In a short statement on her trip, the U.S. Embassy in Armenia said Hooker will discuss with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and other Armenian officials “next steps in strengthening the U.S.-Armenia strategic partnership” through what will be called the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP).
The Armenian government indicated that the TRIPP was a key focus of her talks with Pashinian held later in the day. The two officials spoke about “upcoming plans” stemming from the controversial transport project, it said without elaborating. According to the official readout, Hooker also told Pashinian that “bilateral working groups” led by Sonata Coulter, a U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state, have begun their work.
Pashinian pledged to give the U. S. exclusive rights to the transit railway, road and possibly energy supply lines during talks with Trump and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev held at the White House on August 8. A joint declaration signed by the three leaders said that Armenia will ensure “unhindered communication” between the Nakhichevan exclave and the rest of Azerbaijan through its Syunik province.
Key details of the transit arrangement remain unknown. Pashinian said last week that they should be worked out in the first half of next year. He also effectively confirmed U.S. media reports, previously denied by Yerevan, that the U.S. government will likely secure a long-term lease on the transit routes passing through Syunik. He said an Armenian-American joint venture will be set up for that purpose.
Pashinian has made ambiguous statements on the crucial question of the Armenian border crossing procedures that could be put in place for Azerbaijani travelers and cargo. His domestic critics maintain that the TRIPP amounts to the kind of an extraterritorial “Zangezur corridor” that has been sought by Azerbaijan ever since the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh. Aliyev has repeatedly echoed the Armenian opposition claims.