Armenia, U.S. to finalize TRIPP implementation deal within a month: Pashinyan

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has announced that the TRIPP connectivity project envisages reopening the Meghri railway and establishing new transport and infrastructure links through Armenia’s territory.

He made the remarks at a campaign event in the village of Goght, a day after Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio initialed a framework agreement on strategic cooperation concerning TRIPP aimed at enabling the project’s implementation.

He said the Armenia-U.S. agreement on TRIPP would be finalized within a month at the latest.

“U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Armenia and, together with the foreign minister, initialed the framework agreement for the implementation of the TRIPP project. The agreement will be formally signed within a month at the latest,” Pashinyan said.

According to the prime minister, one of the project’s most visible components is the reopening of the Meghri railway.

“The Meghri railway will be reopened, and both Azerbaijan and Armenia will use it — Azerbaijan for transport links between Nakhchivan and mainland Azerbaijan, and Armenia for establishing a railway connection between the country’s northern and southern regions. Today, we do not have a railway running from south to north, specifically through the Syunik section, and we are going to obtain that railway,” the prime minister said.

He added that reopening the railway would also be important for cargo transportation, particularly for transporting products from the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine. “This means an opportunity for us to transport at least concentrate from Syunik directly by rail and also deliver goods to Syunik,” Pashinyan said.

According to the prime minister, Armenia will also receive transit revenues.

“Every train that passes through our territory will pay for it, and those funds will go to the state budget of the Republic of Armenia,” he said.

Pashinyan noted that the revenues could be directed toward road construction, social programs and other state needs.

He also emphasized that increasing railway transportation could reduce the impact of heavy cargo trucks on roads.

In addition to the railway, the TRIPP project also envisages the construction of gas pipelines, oil pipelines, power transmission lines and internet cables through Armenia’s territory, according to Pashinyan.

“We are going to receive transit revenues from all of that,” he said.

According to the prime minister, the infrastructure will enable Armenia to carry out both imports and exports.

Pashinyan also noted that implementing the project implies major investments and create new jobs.

He said that, within the framework of the project, Armenia would also obtain a railway connection with Iran.

According to Pashinyan, the project could turn Armenia into a north-south and east-west transportation crossroads.

“We are also obtaining a railway connection between the Persian Gulf and the Black Sea for exports and imports,” he said.

The Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) is a connectivity project in Armenia envisaged under the U.S.-brokered Armenian-Azerbaijani joint declaration signed in Washington, D.C. The project is expected to unlock strategic economic opportunities, create long-term benefits through infrastructure investment and enhance regional connectivity. An Armenian-American joint enterprise is expected to develop the route.