Under a U.S.-Armenian agreement signed in June, the U.S. government will own 74 percent of the company that will have “exclusive land use rights, development rights, related permissions, and all other rights” necessary for the establishment of the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP). The Armenian government is to own the remaining 26 percent of the TRIPP Development Company (TDC)
A Kyrgyz media outlet reported this week that Pashinian proposed to Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev that Kazakhstan and neighboring Kyrgyzstan each buy 5 percent stakes in the company from Armenia. It did not cite any sources of the information.
Tokayev and Pashinian spoke by phone on Monday. An Armenian government statement said they discussed “opportunities for cooperation in the implementation of regional transport projects.” It did not give any details.
“With regard to Kazakhstan and the TRIPP, the issue has been discussed,” Pashinian told reporters, commenting on Astana’s possible involvement in the project.
“Now different countries are showing interest [in the TRIPP,] and naturally, we welcome the interest shown by them,” he added without elaborating.
A senior adviser to U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff visited Yerevan early this month to discuss with Pashinian and other Armenian officials practical modalities of the TRIPP. The transit route connecting Azerbaijan to its Nakhichevan exclave and Turkey would run along Armenia’s border with Iran. Tehran remains opposed to the planned arrangement, fearing that it could lead to U.S. security presence along the border and undermine Armenian control of it.
The Kyrgyz report also claimed that Tokayev and Pashinian discussed the possibility of Kazakhstan taking over the management of Armenia’s railway network from the Russian Railways (RZhD) monopoly. Pashinian mentioned such a possibility when he said in February that the network should be run by another, non-Russian company because its current status discourages Turkey and Azerbaijan from using a much larger section of Armenian territory for transit purposes.
He has since continued to seek the termination of a 30-year management contract signed with RZhD in 2008. Moscow has repeatedly rejected his demands. The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, reaffirmed its position on Thursday.