Star Metro - US pushes forward trade enclave over Armenia

Rubio met in Washington with the top diplomat of Armenia, whose government agreed to the plan after a major Azerbaijani military victory in 2023.

The United States has proposed developing a corridor that would connect the larger part of Azerbaijan with its exclave of Nakhchivan, which is not connected otherwise with the rest of Azerbaijan but borders the country's key ally Turkey.

In the typical fashion of President Donald Trump's administration, the corridor is named after him -- the "Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity" (TRIPP) -- and he has listed Armenia and Azerbaijan as one of a series of wars he claims to have solved.

"The TRIPP arrangement really is going to turn out to be a model for the world of how you can open yourself up to economic activity and prosperity without in any way questioning or undermining your sovereignty and your territorial integrity," Rubio said as he met Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan.

"It's going to be great for Armenia, great for the United States, great for everyone involved," Rubio said.

Rubio said that the Trump administration would now "work on the implementation" of the agreement.

The TRIPP project, and the prospect of a major US presence, has raised concern in Iran, which also borders Nakhchivan and historically has had warm relations with Armenia.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan last year assured Iran's clerical government that the corridor would remain under Armenian sovereignty.

Armenian separatists for nearly three decades held the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh inside Azerbaijan, which swept the area in a lightning offensive in 2023.

L.Girard--SMC