Former US envoy: TRIPP project could strengthen Baku-Yerevan peace framework

The TRIPP (Trump Road for International Peace and Prosperity) implementation framework, signed by US Secretary of State Rubio and Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan on January 13, could help strengthen a framework for a lasting peace and a peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Matthew Bryza, former US Ambassador to Azerbaijan, member of the Board of Directors of the Jamestown Foundation, told Report.

Bryza highlighted the broader regional benefits of the project,  noting that the agreement "to me shows again that the governments of Armenia and the United States are serious" about moving ahead with the TRIPP, Caliber.Az cites his statement. 

"And that they recognize explicitly that Azerbaijan will benefit, of course, from the TRIPP by helping Nakhchivan and the rest of Azerbaijan connect, but also Azerbaijan will benefit by being a crucial element in a transit corridor that will link Central Asia across the Caspian, across Azerbaijan, through Armenia, across Nakhchivan to Türkiye, and then on to European and global markets. As is stated in the beginning of the framework, that sort of cooperation based on this project should help strengthen a framework for a lasting peace and a peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia," Bryza stressed.

The former ambassador outlined three reasons why the framework is significant. 

"First of all, it underscores in quite specific ways the commitment of the United States and Armenia to move forward on the Trump Road for International Peace and Prosperity, the TRIPP, or the Zangazur Corridor, and to translate words into deeds," Bryza said.

He also emphasised Armenia’s sovereignty over the corridor: "What is called for is a 49-year lease of the land, which will remain explicitly part of the sovereignty of or under the sovereign control of Armenia."

Finally, Bryza noted that the framework defines “an interesting business model for this important infrastructure project,” reflecting a concrete approach to regional connectivity.

By Sabina Mammadli