{"id":7800,"date":"2026-11-07T21:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-07T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mikhailinvest.com\/trump-backed-trade-corridor-advances-despite-geopolitical-resistance\/"},"modified":"2026-11-07T21:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-11-07T18:00:00","slug":"trump-backed-trade-corridor-advances-despite-geopolitical-resistance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mikhailinvest.com\/zh\/trump-backed-trade-corridor-advances-despite-geopolitical-resistance\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump-Backed Trade Corridor Advances Despite Geopolitical Resistance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Armenian officials have commenced design work for the TRIPP trade corridor, even though an operating agreement with the United States remains to be finalized.<\/p>\n

US and Armenian officials announced<\/a> in January a preliminary agreement outlining the establishment of an entity, TRIPP Development, that would manage the corridor. The agreement sketched TRIPP Development\u2019s ownership structure but left operational details to be settled at a later date. Since then, there has been lots of positive talk, but little action to get TRIPP Development up and running.<\/p>\n

In late October, the Armenian parliament formally approved<\/a> a bill authorizing the formation of TRIPP Development. Signaling that official Yerevan wants to keep things moving along quickly, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced that officials were not waiting for TRIPP Development\u2019s incorporation, and will immediately begin preparatory work on the corridor, which eventually could include a road, railway, power and fiber-optic transmission lines, and energy pipelines.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter the establishment of TRIPP Development, the results of the work will be transferred to it,\u201d Pashinyan told MPs<\/a> on November 2.<\/p>\n

TRIPP, or the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, was the centerpiece of the provisional peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan, brokered by the US president in August 2025. The corridor will traverse Armenian territory to connect Azerbaijan to its Nakhchivan exclave and is envisioned as a key node in an evolving trans-Caspian trade network.<\/p>\n

Launching TRIPP Development is not the only challenge facing the corridor: Russia and Iran both have come out against the route, wary that it will disrupt north-south trade between the two states. Moscow and Tehran are also suspicious of a likely US security presence in the region connected to TRIPP.<\/p>\n

Armenia has gone on a diplomatic offensive to assuage the Iranian leadership\u2019s concerns. In Tehran, Armenia\u2019s ambassador to Iran, Grigor Hakobyan, met with a delegation<\/a> of Iranian MPs on November 2, briefing them \u201con the latest agreements regarding the TRIPP project.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

A few days earlier, Iran\u2019s envoy to Armenia, Khalil Shirgholami, met with reporters<\/a> in Yerevan, telling them that Tehran was keeping an open mind. But, choosing his words carefully, he indicated that Iran would have little tolerance for any American security presence as part of TRIPP\u2019s operations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is important for us [i.e. Iran] that during the discussion of the TRIPP project or any other matter, the territorial integrity and national sovereignty of Armenia are respected. It is also important that no third party can create a challenge for the strategic relations between Armenia and Iran,\u201d he said. \u201cWe will remain committed to this approach during the discussions and further work between the two countries.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, mutual rancor between Armenia and Russia continues to simmer. The Kremlin has reportedly threatened<\/a> to cut off crucial gas supplies to Armenia unless Yerevan abandons its efforts to make a geopolitical pivot away from Moscow towards the West.<\/p>\n

Pashinyan has remained defiant in the face of growing Russian pressure<\/a>. Speaking at a forum in Brussels on November 4, he predicted that Armenia would be ready to apply for EU membership no later than 2028.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor our people, democracy is not a matter of circumstances. It is a strategic choice,\u201d he said<\/a>. \u201cThe European Union is one of the main partners of the Republic of Armenia in the democratic reform agenda implementation.\u201d<\/p>\n

By Eurasianet<\/a><\/p>\n

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com<\/strong><\/p>\n