US to outline next steps for TRIPP as Washington shifts focus to implementation

(Horizon Media / WASHINGTON) – U.S. officials are expected to outline the next phase of the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) during an event in New York today, as Washington moves to turn the Armenia-based transport initiative from a political agreement into an operational infrastructure project.

Senior State Department officials told reporters that discussions will focus on the legal, institutional and financial mechanisms needed to advance the project, which would establish a new east-west transport and trade link through southern Armenia.

The foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan are expected to attend, alongside representatives of the five Central Asian states, U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, Senator Steve Daines and executives from more than 40 companies, many of them American.

Washington says TRIPP could help expand the so-called Middle Corridor, linking Central Asia to European markets while reducing reliance on transit routes through Russia, China and Iran.

The project is expected eventually to include rail, road, energy, pipeline and digital infrastructure along an approximately 43-kilometre section of Armenian territory connecting mainland Azerbaijan with Nakhichevan. U.S. officials stressed that the arrangement is intended to operate while respecting Armenia’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and security.

Physical construction, however, remains some distance away. Officials said a feasibility study for the railway is expected by late 2026 or early 2027, after which companies could begin competing for contracts. Railway construction itself would likely take at least 18 months.

Energy links could move faster, with officials saying electricity transmission could potentially begin in 2027, connecting Armenia and Azerbaijan with broader regional networks extending toward Central Asia, Turkey and Europe.

Officials also provided further details on the planned TRIPP Development Company, a joint U.S.-Armenian corporate entity in which the United States would hold a majority stake. The company is expected to oversee the competitive tendering and management of infrastructure projects connected to the route.

A separate Trans-Caspian Enterprise Fund will also be presented in New York. Although not directly operated by the U.S. government, the fund will receive State Department grants and operate under the oversight of a White House-appointed board.

The Trump administration is presenting TRIPP as part of a broader effort to deepen economic ties between Armenia and Azerbaijan following the August 8, 2025 summit in Washington. U.S. officials say their current focus is no longer limited to reaching political agreements, but on building the economic and institutional structures intended to sustain them.

As one senior State Department official put it, the central question now is what happens “the day after the document is signed.”