Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian pledged to give the U. S. exclusive rights to the corridor during talks with U.S. President Donald Trump and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev held at the White House on August 8. Key details of what will be called the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) remain unknown.
A joint declaration by Aliyev and Pashinian makes only a general reference to the TRIPP, saying that Armenia will ensure “unhindered communication” between the Nakhichevan exclave and the rest of Azerbaijan through its Syunik province.
Also, Pashinian and Trump signed a memorandum of understanding on “the Crossroads of Peace Capacity Building Partnership.” Armenian opposition figures and other government critics speculated that it calls for the kind of an extraterritorial corridor that has been sought by Baku. They challenged Pashinian to publicize the document. The premier pledged to do that at a news conference on Thursday.
The memorandum made public the following morning affirms Washington’s and Yerevan’s “common desire to improve Armenia’s infrastructure and border security capacities, and ability to act as an efficient transit hub for regional and global trade” and says the two sides will collaborate to that end. But it says little about concrete steps that will be taken by them. Nor does it make any mention of the TRIPP.
It emphasizes instead: “Nothing in this [memorandum of understanding] gives rise to rights or obligations under international or domestic law. The Participants specifically acknowledge that this MOU is not an obligation of funds.”
Ruben Rubinian, a deputy parliament speaker and leading member of the ruling Civil Contract party, said the publicized document disproves Armenian opposition claims that Pashinian agreed to open the “Zangezur corridor” demanded by Azerbaijan.
“Once again, it was proven that the opposition is simply bankrupt,” Rubinian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Both Azerbaijani and Turkish leaders have used in recent days the term “Zangezur corridor” in reference to the TRIPP.
Speaking during a signing ceremony at the White House, Trump appeared to confirm Western press reports that the U.S. will secure a long-term lease on the transit routes passing through Syunik. He said it “could extend for up to 99 years.”
Pashinian insisted on Thursday, however, that no “fixed agreements” have been reached yet on time frames and other practical modalities of this transit arrangement. He said Armenian, Azerbaijani and U.S. officials will hold more talks on the matter next month.