Armenia has signed a strategic partnership agreement with the United States to deepen bilateral relations, as Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan faces challenges from pro-Russian parties ahead of parliamentary elections in June.
On February 12, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan signed a framework agreement on critical minerals and transit corridor development in Yerevan. “This agreement marks the biggest step so far toward turning this historical route into reality, promoting peace and prosperity for Armenia and the region,” Rubio said at the signing ceremony at Yerevan airport.
The 43-kilometer corridor, called the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP), will run through southern Armenia, providing Azerbaijan with a direct route to the Nakhchivan exclave and from there to Turkey, a close ally of Baku. The framework, developed by the U.S. State Department, is part of the peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan signed last August and grants the United States a 74% stake in the TRIPP Development Company, with a clear commitment to benefiting American businesses.
Prime Minister Pashinyan has sought to move closer to the United States and Europe, displeasing longtime ally Russia. Moscow has warned it could raise gas prices for Armenia if the country continues pursuing deeper integration with the West. Historically a close security and economic partner of Russia, Armenia began tilting toward the West after the 2023 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Russia, bogged down in the war in Ukraine, did not intervene militarily when Azerbaijan launched a major offensive into Nagorno-Karabakh, a region with a predominantly Armenian population that had been de facto independent since the 1990s.
Last year, the United States and Armenia held their first joint military exercises. “I want to reaffirm that the comprehensive strategic partnership between our two countries is stronger than ever,” Foreign Minister Mirzoyan declared. For its part, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump primarily views ties with Yerevan through an economic lens, seeking concessions in areas such as critical minerals.
