TRIPP has become key element of peace agreements, US moving peace agreements into practical phase: Steve Witkoff

Steve Witkoff, Special Envoy of the US President, said that over the past year Washington has been working with Armenia and Azerbaijan on the practical implementation of the peace agreements, the key element of which has become the TRIPP concept. In an op-ed for the Washington Examiner, he noted that American mediation was accompanied by intensive meetings in Baku and Yerevan, resulting in a new model for resolving the conflict.

TRIPP envisages the creation of multimodal transit infrastructure across the territory of Armenia while fully preserving its sovereignty. Engineering surveys for the railway are already underway as part of the project, and public-private coordination and capital-raising mechanisms are being put in place. According to Witkoff, the South Caucasus has become safer and more stable.

Armenia and the US have signed a framework agreement on strategic cooperation on TRIPP, and a joint company, the TRIPP Development Company, has been established. To encourage investment, the US set up the Trans-Caspian Enterprise Fund, with capital of $201 million. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has previously stated that the project is first and foremost an investment one and should bring an inflow of billions of dollars into Armenia’s economy.