Robert Kocharyan: TRIPP is Armenian-American project for Azerbaijan  and Turkey

ArmInfo.  The "Trump Route," or TRIPP, is an Armenian- American project for Azerbaijan and Turkey. This was stated by Robert Kocharyan, the second president of the Republic of Armenia, at a press conference on January 29.

According to him, in the current format, where an American company is  receiving a 74% stake in a joint venture being created with the  Armenian side, Armenia's interests are completely invisible.  Moreover, the former president continued, Armenia has become no  longer a party to the project, but a semi-party, a technical element.  Countries with transit capabilities have two factors: economic and  geographic.  Transferring 74% of the shares to the US negates the  geographic factor. In particular, the project poses security threats  to the Armenian state, as establishing control over its borders with  Iran is far more important for the US. "At the same time, I  personally don't see any economic interest in the project. The volume  of US trade with all the countries of the South Caucasus amounts to  only 0.04% of their total trade turnover. You'll agree that this is a  negligible figure, revealing a lack of economic motivation.   Washington's main goal is to control Iran's borders," the former  President of Armenia expressed his conviction, noting Israeli  influence in this.

Robert Kocharyan believes the project can only be effective if it is  expanded to Yeraskh. In that case, the entire transport  infrastructure, rather than just its individual components, will be  operational. He criticized claims of upcoming multi-billion dollar  investments, noting that the project only covers 42 kilometers of  railway. "When they talk about billions for 42 kilometers of track,  it's simply ridiculous. In that case, the rails should be made of  pure gold. The actual cost of the project is $80-$90 million, and  Armenia is fully capable of implementing it on its own," the former  president said, adding that the impact of operating this section of  the railway would be minimal.

As a reminder, on August 8, 2025, in Washington, US President Donald  Trump, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, and Azerbaijani  President Ilham Aliyev signed a joint declaration outlining their  intention to normalize relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.  Trump announced that the key issue that had prevented the signing of  a peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan had been resolved:  the opening of a transit route connecting mainland Azerbaijan with  its exclave of Nakhichevan, with the participation of an  Armenian-American consortium. TRIPP Development will develop and  build the "Trump Route" transport infrastructure in Armenia.  Washington will own 74% of the company, and Yerevan 26%. This  Armenian-American joint venture will be registered in Armenia and  will receive the right to develop the necessary infrastructure of  railways and roads, oil and gas pipelines, and fiber-optic cables.  Project management will be transferred to the American company for a  period of 49 years.