Ambassador says TRIPP could include pipelines, power lines and fiber optics

By Lia Avagyan

Armenia’s planned TRIPP connectivity project with the United States could eventually include pipelines, electricity transmission lines and fiber-optic infrastructure alongside roads and railways, Armenia’s Ambassador to the United States Narek Mkrtchyan said.

Mkrtchyan made the comments in an interview with The Heritage Foundation’s The Parliament program ahead of Aug. 8, the first anniversary of the initialing of the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace agreement. The interview was published on Monday.

The Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, or TRIPP, is planned to run through southern Armenia and connect Azerbaijan to its Nakhchivan exclave. Mkrtchyan said the project should be viewed as more than a transportation route.

“It is not only about road and rail,” Mkrtchyan said. He said the infrastructure could also include fiber-optic cables, electricity transmission lines and potentially pipelines.

Mkrtchyan linked TRIPP to Armenia’s broader Crossroads of Peace initiative, which seeks to reopen regional transportation links while maintaining the sovereignty and jurisdiction of the countries through which they pass.

He said the project could help establish new supply chains connecting Europe with the South Caucasus, Central Asia and the Middle East.

The planned route through Armenia is about 42 kilometers (26 miles) long and runs near the country’s border with Iran. Asked about concerns surrounding the project, Mkrtchyan stressed that TRIPP would operate under Armenian sovereignty. He said greater regional connectivity could also benefit Iran, as well as Turkey, Georgia and Russia.

TRIPP emerged from the Aug. 8, 2025 Washington agreements between Armenia and Azerbaijan, when the two countries initialed a peace agreement in the presence of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Mkrtchyan said developments over the past year showed that economic interaction between Armenia and Azerbaijan could begin before establishing diplomatic relations or signing a final peace treaty. He pointed to Armenian purchases of Azerbaijani fuel and the use of Azerbaijani territory to transit goods to Armenia from Russia and Kazakhstan.