US Vice President J.D. Vance arrived in Armenia on Monday, beginning a four-day visit to the Caucasus aimed at consolidating the US-mediated peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan and promoting a strategic transit corridor seen by Washington as crucial for reshaping trade, energy, and influence in the region.
Vance, the highest-ranking Trump administration official to visit Armenia, met with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and senior officials in Yerevan, approximately six months after Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a historic accord intended to end more than 40 years of conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.
“I believe Armenia can now serve as a key driver of economic development in the region, which will help sustain the peace agreement and potentially bring significant prosperity to the Armenian people, which is important both for them and for the United States,” Vance said ahead of his meeting with Pashinyan.
Following his Yerevan meetings, Vance is scheduled to travel to Baku on Tuesday and Wednesday to hold discussions with Azerbaijani officials.
The visit focuses heavily on economic development and trust-building initiatives between the two nations. US officials have stressed that strengthening trade ties is a strategic tool for promoting long-term regional stability.
As part of the peace implementation plan, a proposed 43-kilometer road-rail corridor, dubbed the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP), would run through southern Armenia, connecting Azerbaijan to its exclave of Nakhchivan. The corridor is intended to open new east-west trade routes, bypassing Russia and Iran.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have clashed over Nagorno-Karabakh since the late 1980s, a region internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but long controlled by ethnic Armenian separatists. Azerbaijan regained full control in September 2023 after a military offensive.
Last summer, the two countries, with US mediation, reached a significant agreement aiming to end decades of conflict, including two major wars. The accord grants the US a role in developing the transit corridor, which would include railways, pipelines, and fiber optic lines, facilitating both the movement of goods and potentially people across the region.
Analysts note that while the corridor promises economic and strategic benefits, it also reflects US ambitions to strengthen influence in the Caucasus, potentially challenging Russian and Iranian interests.
