The Armenian ambassador to the United States also did not rule out in recent days that the work could begin early next year.
Allen was received in Baku on September 8 by Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Elnur Mammadov.
In a statement issued on that day, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said: “During the meeting, discussed were steps toward advancing the peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and ensuring long-term and sustainable peace, the work carried out toward the Trump Route, as well as the establishment of the TRIPP development company.”
Neither the U.S. Embassy in Armenia nor the U.S. Embassy in Azerbaijan immediately issued an official statement on the American diplomat’s meeting in Baku. But the U.S. Embassy in Armenia provided RFE/RL’s Armenian Service with some information about the purpose of the visit.
“As TRIPP moves from vision to implementation, this Administration priority will require close regional coordination. U.S. Embassy Yerevan and U.S. Embassy Baku worked jointly on CdA Allen’s travel to Baku for meetings in support of TRIPP’s full implementation and commitments under the U.S.-Armenia Framework Agreement,” a spokesperson for the embassy said.
Azerbaijan’s foreign minister, for his part, added on Wednesday that American officials regularly provide them with information about the U.S.-Armenian TRIPP project.
“That is quite natural, because the implementation of this project is impossible without Azerbaijan’s participation. We are told that the work is continuing. The start of physical work has been postponed until 2027,” Bayramov said, as quoted by Azerbaijani media.
The TRIPP development company will be responsible for the construction of the route. The agreement on the route connecting Azerbaijan to its western exclave of Nakhichevan through Armenian territory is already at the ratification stage. According to the signed document, Armenia’s stake in this U.S.-Armenian company during the first 50 years will be 26 percent, with the U.S. holding a 74-percent stake in it.
Visit ‘Not Surprising’
Sargis Khandanian, the pro-government head of the Armenian National Assembly’s Foreign Relations Committee, said he was unaware that such a meeting had taken place in Baku on Tuesday. Still, he added, the visit by Allen did not surprise him.
“Through this route, the Azerbaijani Republic will be connected to the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic, so it is obvious, isn’t it, that Azerbaijan is interested in TRIPP being implemented as quickly, efficiently and with as much quality as possible, so that its connection with Nakhichevan becomes shorter and more efficient. And, naturally, Azerbaijan is also interested in what processes are taking place around TRIPP. Armenia and Azerbaijan also discuss these issues with each other in a bilateral format, so there is no need to be surprised here,” Khandanian said.
Asked whether Armenia had authorized the United States to discuss in Baku the road that will pass through Armenian territory, Khandanian said: “Next week, we are having guests from Germany. I am also going to discuss the details of TRIPP with our German partners. And I do not have the authorization, nor do I need such authorization from the United States, to speak about this,” the ruling Civil Contract party’s lawmaker said.
Through various documents, Armenia has also committed to ensuring unimpeded connectivity through TRIPP. And although these documents also refer to mutual benefits, Baku has not been in a hurry to clarify whether the conditions for passage by Armenian citizens will also be the same.
Khandanian said it was a secondary question as to what model and what technical equipment the Azerbaijani side will have, but added: “Of course, it would be very good if it were as fast and efficient as possible.”
Asked why the issue may be important for Azerbaijan but secondary for Armenia, the pro-government lawmaker said: “Well, as I mentioned, Azerbaijan wants to establish a shorter and more efficient connection with another part of its territory, Nakhichevan. But it is also good for us; we also want that road to be as fast as possible and without additional complications.”
How Experts See It
With the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran showing no signs of ending, Washington’s efforts to stop the Russian-Ukrainian conflict proving unsuccessful, and midterm elections looming in the United States, Benyamin Poghosian, a senior expert at the APRI Armenia think tank, said he believes the Trump administration may be primarily interested in making sure Azerbaijan does not create additional obstacles to the implementation of TRIPP.
“The Americans want to present TRIPP as part of the peace process. Unfortunately, we see that Azerbaijan is in fact continuing to torpedo the peace process. Just today, Azerbaijan’s foreign minister said that until the reference to the Declaration of Independence is removed from Armenia’s Constitution at their demand, Armenia should forget about signing a peace treaty,” he said.
The expert did not rule out the possibility that during the visit Allen tried to persuade Azerbaijan to move forward with the signing of the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace agreement or not to obstruct Turkish-Armenian normalization before the agreement is signed.
In his statement on Wednesday, Bayramov, however, said that Baku’s position regarding Armenia’s Constitution remains unchanged and that they will sign a peace treaty with Armenia only after the reference to the Declaration of Independence containing wording about the unification of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh is removed from the country’s basic law.
Asked whether Baku’s refusal to back down from its hard-line position even after the September 8 meeting meant that there had been no progress on the issue, Poghosian said: “If they also discussed that issue during the visit, saying, ‘Let us, in any case, move the normalization process forward,’ then yes, we can say that, at least on that issue, there has been no progress.”