U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Marco Rubio Alison Hooker arrived in Yerevan on Monday. The main topic of the meetings is TRIPP (the Zangezur Corridor), as well as the opening of communications between Armenia and Turkiye.

It's time to remind you that a conference entitled "Crossroads of the World: Development of regional communications and cooperation" was held in Yerevan last Friday. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan spoke about how things are going with TRIPP and what he plans to do so that the project does not turn into a long-term construction.

In this case, the implementation of the project depends entirely on the Armenian side. Azerbaijan has done everything in its power to ensure the diplomatic basis of the project, and it can only act further if it is asked to do so. He could have built roads and pipelines himself, and then the issue would have been resolved much faster. But Armenia is not Georgia, it is still far from such cooperation. If Azerbaijan and Armenia were good neighbors, there would be no problems. But so far there is no delimited border between the two countries, there are no interstate relations, which excludes partnership. The lack of clear borders, of course, is currently the number one obstacle to the implementation of the Zangezur Corridor. And Pashinyan is right when he says that the delimitation process should be continued in the southern section of the border, and not in the north, as previously planned.

It should be recalled that in January of this year, the eleventh meeting of the border delimitation commissions between the two countries took place at the border. As a result of the discussions, it was decided to start a complex of works on the delimitation of the state border from the northern section - from the junction of the borders of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia and further south to the border of Azerbaijan and Armenia with the Islamic Republic of Iran.

In September, after the Washington meeting, Azerbaijan and Armenia exchanged delegations led by Deputy Prime Ministers Shahin Mustafayev and Mher Grigoryan. Reaching an agreement on the construction of communications through Zangezur actualized the shift of priorities in the issue of delimitation from north to south. The delimitation of the northern sections, especially in the direction of Gazakh region, where the issue of the return of three exclave villages to Azerbaijan, may be delayed for a long period, and the implementation of the Zangezur project is not expected. Therefore, it became necessary to start discussions on the delimitation and clearance of certain sections of the border line in order to build appropriate infrastructure and synchronize actions to create communications.

"For example, to start the construction of railways, power lines, etc., "on the ground" requires the availability of appropriate infrastructure. And this, first of all, requires determining the jurisdiction of the country so that the builder knows in which territory of the country they are working," Nikol Pashinyan said, speaking at a conference on Friday.

The Armenian prime minister said that TRIPP will have several railways, power lines, pipelines, among which there may be a gas pipeline, an oil pipeline, cables, and so on.

I think this is not entirely true. The Trump Route for Peace and Prosperity is a communications project leading from the western borders of Azerbaijan to the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. Armenia may include TRIPP in its "Crossroads of the World," but in reality, the agreements reached in Washington imply the route of the Zangezur corridor. Other roads and pipelines that the American partners will (if they will) build in Armenia are not related to TRIPP. Azerbaijan is not going to obstruct the development of transport and other communications in the neighboring country, but it should not be forgotten that most of them, not only the Zangezur corridor, will come from Azerbaijani territory. The same oil and gas pipelines that Nikol Pashinyan is talking about will be built to deliver Azerbaijani energy resources. It is unlikely that American contractors will pull pipes from Iran. There is a pipe from Iran, but it is too narrow and not designed for large gas supplies, and the construction of a new gas pipeline in Armenia has not taken place, although it has been discussed for many years.  

Azerbaijan is not interested in what else Yerevan is planning as part of its "Crossroads of the World." This is really an internal matter of Armenia. The road to Nakhchivan is another matter. In this case, Azerbaijan cannot be considered a third party. The road, like other communications, will run from Azerbaijan to Azerbaijan, and regardless of the fact that the transit territory belongs to Armenia, it is not serious to record it in third parties. This is exactly what the Armenian Prime Minister tried to do, speaking at a conference in Yerevan.

Once again, the Azerbaijani side is interested in this project as an opportunity to establish unhindered and short-term communication with its autonomy, which has remained under blockade since the beginning of the Karabakh conflict. Cargo delivery, provision of NAR with Azerbaijani gas and electricity. It was precisely these tasks that Baku sought from Yerevan. Meanwhile, this corridor can bring economic dividends to Armenia, and its stubbornness for five years has been completely illogical.

Over time, as the issue of delimitation progresses, and especially after the signing of the peace treaty, other communications between Azerbaijan and Armenia that operated before the conflict will be unblocked. There are roads that, although unsuitable for international freight transportation within the Middle Corridor, are suitable for communication between the two countries. There are gas pipelines through which Armenia once received Azerbaijani gas. One of the pipes stretched through Lachin and Goris to Nakhchivan and further to Yerevan. It is unknown what condition the gas pipeline is in now. This route can also be restored as part of TRIPP. Moreover, Nikol Pashinyan himself complained at the Crossroads conference about the relief of Syunik. Why bother with a new route when experts in the Soviet years had already laid the most suitable one.

It is good that the Armenian Prime Minister is aware of the indispensability of the old railway through Meghri. Before, I remember, he offered Azerbaijan other options for communication with the NAR, which were immediately rejected by the Azerbaijani side. Now he himself admits that the railway within the framework of the TRIPP project will definitely run through the south of Armenia, along the route of the former railway, because there are no other possible options, and if there are, they will be ten times more expensive. 

As for other communications, in particular the gas pipeline and power transmission lines, it is planned to lay them further north due to geographical factors. By the way, Goris is just to the north. The Armenian side should not bother its head, but restore the previous route. It passed through the previously occupied territories - through Agdam, Askeran, Khankendi, Shusha and Lachin, so the Azerbaijani side will also have to carry out a huge amount of work.

Earlier, Nikol Pashinin had already announced that the implementation of TRIPP will begin after the parliamentary elections in Armenia, in the second half of 2026. In addition, Armenia has not yet decided on the terms for which the project will be placed under the management of the American side. I remember that at the meeting in Washington on August 8, 99 years were discussed. Now Pashinyan is talking about options: 49 or 99.

But these are the affairs of Yerevan and Washington. We don't care how many years the American partners will repay their investments. However, it largely depends on us how effective the route will be and what dividends it will bring. We should not forget that the presence of the American factor on the route may raise doubts among some of our partners, and in this case, those who expect to make money on TRIPP transit will have to settle for transportation to Nakhchivan and back. For doubting partners, Azerbaijan has the northern branch of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (the Middle Corridor) through Georgia. But by using all his diplomatic skills, he can help eliminate doubts. Although there are strange statements from the American side regarding plans to organize transit along the Middle Corridor bypassing China, those who are talking about this are clearly not familiar with geography. And not only with geography.

Not everyone in Armenia welcomes TRIPP. The US connection has shortened the languages somewhat, but Armenian revanchists, experts and other demagogues do not tire of talking about the risks of the project. There is the threat of turning into a gray zone under foreign control in the event of "Azerbaijani aggression", there are some environmental risks, and there is some damage to political interests. Lots of stuff. To Nikol Pashinyan's credit, he ignores these obstacles.

Azerbaijan stands for cooperation, for the prosperity of the region, and for the common interests of its close neighbors. Yerevan's task today is to try to make TRIPP a unifying rather than a separating route.