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Originally published at Tsarizm.
The Armenian parliament on Wednesday ratified a U.S. framework agreement for a transit route, which will run across Armenia to link mainland Azerbaijan with its exclave of Nakhchivan.
The Armenian Parliament ratified the Framework Agreement on Strategic Cooperation Concerning the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, known as TRIPP, with 63 votes in favor and 32 against, Armenpress reported. The members of Prime Minister Pashinyan’s Civil Contract faction voted in favor. The opposition’s Strong Armenia and Armenia factions voted against.
According to Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, who presented the bill to the parliament, the infrastructure to be built on Armenian territory within the frame of the agreement will function under the sovereignty of the Armenian government and under its jurisdiction. The minister said the project has several goals: to unblock the communication lines in the region, to provide the connection between Armenia and third countries via Azerbaijan, and to restore the communication routes within the country and provide the connection between Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan via Armenia.
OC Media reported that the plan comes out of the August 2025 Washington summit between Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, and President Donald Trump. That meeting produced the initialing of a peace text, not a signed treaty. A joint document was prepared by the US and Armenia, saying that the passage would generate reciprocal benefits for Armenia’s foreign and domestic communications. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the signed framework the biggest step yet to making the route a reality. Armenpress said the agreement was signed in June 2026.
Under the agreement the operating company TRIPP Development Company will be split in an unequal proportion of shares. 74% of shares will be held by the US side and 26% by Armenia. According to Mirzoyan the first term of operation of the company will be 49 years. If both sides consent, the term can be extended for an additional 50 years, during which the proportion of shares held by Armenia will increase to 49% and those of the US side will decrease to 51%, Armenpress reported. The American co-founder company, which is under the ownership of and managed by the US government, stays that way. The charter and the shareholders’ agreement will still have to be negotiated and adopted, he said.
OC Media reported that the framework leaves legislative, regulatory and judicial powers, as well as national security and law enforcement, as well as issues related to customs, taxes and border control, in the hands of the Armenian authorities. Private operators hired by the development company would staff a front office, collecting documents and fees from people entering Armenia from Azerbaijan. Decisions would stay with Armenian authorities. OC Media said the setup appears aimed at a demand from Aliyev that Azerbaijani nationals not have to face Armenian border guards.
The Armenia faction said Azerbaijan’s interests are reflected more directly than those of Armenia. Narek Karapetyan, leader of Strong Armenia, warned that opening the route prior to signing of the peace treaty could remove Azerbaijan’s reason to sign, then let Baku add conditions Armenia cannot meet, including constitutional changes. He said Armenia could end up without its side of the unblocked routes.
Mirzoyan told lawmakers the route could open before the peace treaty is signed, and that building the cooperation could itself speed up the signing of the treaty. According to Mirzoyan, there are guarantees tied to the interests of Armenia, Azerbaijan and third countries, and it is impossible for Azerbaijan to start the transportation of cargo to Nakhchivan unless Armenia also has a way to transport its cargo through Azerbaijan.
The ratification of the framework does not yet mean the corporate documents will be completed or a peace treaty signed. A land connection from mainland Azerbaijan to Nakhchivan has to cross southern Armenia near Meghri, along the Aras River and the Iranian border. Azerbaijan has long called that link the Zangezur corridor.
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