On August 8, the United States secured exclusive development rights to a new strategic transit corridor through the South Caucasus as part of a U.S.-brokered peace framework between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Hosted at the White House, the signing by President Donald Trump alongside Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev marks a watershed moment in resolving the decades-long Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
The corridor rebranded as the “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity” (TRIPP), will connect mainland Azerbaijan to its Nakhchivan exclave by traversing southern Armenia. Operating under Armenian law, the U.S. has been granted a long-term lease and will sublease land to a private consortium responsible for building and managing rail, oil and gas pipelines, fiber-optic lines, and potentially power grids.
Beyond logistics, the corridor is seen as a broader geopolitical gambit. One U.S. official described it as a commercial tool that could unlock regional stability, by “averting further hostilities” and unlock the South Caucasus’s trade and energy potential. Analysts note the corridor may facilitate deeper ties between Azerbaijan and Turkey, prompt Turkey to reopen its border with Armenia, and significantly reduce Russian and Iranian influence in the region.
As part of the agreement, both Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders also signed a request to dissolve the OSCE Minsk Group, the long-standing conflict mediation body co-chaired by Russia, France, and the U.S.. While the new transit initiative offers momentum toward normalization, key challenges remain. These include addressing the rights of displaced populations, prisoners of war, and Armenian cultural heritage sites issues not resolved in the agreement.
