NEW YORK, United States -- The United States is set to unveil the next stage of its effort to develop the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, or TRIPP, a planned transport and infrastructure corridor through southern Armenia that Washington says could open new trade routes between the South Caucasus, Central Asia, and Western markets.
Senior State Department officials told reporters that the New York event on September 23 will focus on the institutional and financial mechanisms needed to move TRIPP from last year's Armenia-Azerbaijan peace initiative toward implementation.
The event is expected to bring together the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, representatives of the five Central Asian states -- with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan showing particular interest -- US special envoy Steve Witkoff, Republican Senator Steve Daines, and executives from more than 40 companies, many of them American.
Officials said the event will highlight how TRIPP aims to "pop the cork" on the Middle Corridor, unlocking a westward trade route that connects Europe to Central Asia while reducing reliance on transit through Russia, China, and Iran.
The gathering will also feature the Trans-Caspian Enterprise Fund, which officials said will invest in opportunities arising from TRIPP and the wider Trans-Caspian trade route. The fund operates at arm's length from the US government under a White House-appointed board and receives grant funding from the State Department. It is distinct from the TRIPP Development Company, the joint US-Armenian corporate entity being established to develop and oversee the corridor.
'A Major Security Issue'
TRIPP is intended to provide unimpeded access between Azerbaijan proper and its Nakhchivan exclave through Armenian territory while respecting Armenia's sovereignty, territorial integrity, and security.
"This becomes a major security issue for us," the official said, describing the removal of existing trade "choke points" as a central objective.
The transit route will be developed and managed by a US-controlled company, giving Washington exclusive rights while effectively excluding Russia from a strategically important project in one of its traditional spheres of influence.
The project emerged from an August 2025 White House summit at which Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed a US-brokered joint declaration aimed at ending decades of conflict between the two South Caucasus neighbors.
Armenia and Azerbaijan fought two major wars over Nagorno-Karabakh, an internationally recognized part of Azerbaijan that for decades had a predominantly ethnic-Armenian population. Azerbaijan regained full control of the territory in 2023, prompting almost all of its ethnic Armenia population to flee. The two sides agreed on the text of a peace treaty in March 2025, but a final agreement has yet to be completed.
Officials said there have been no cease-fire violations since the August summit and pointed to limited trade in fuel and agricultural products as evidence of growing economic integration. According to them, Azerbaijani fuel supplies have contributed to an estimated 20 to 30 percent decline in Armenian fuel costs.
They noted there had been more interaction between Washington and Baku during the previous 13 to 14 months than during the preceding 13 to 14 years.
A senior State Department official said Yerevan and Baku were acting as though peace were "inevitable," although additional steps remain before a final agreement can be completed. Washington intends to develop TRIPP in parallel with that process, arguing that greater economic integration could help remove remaining obstacles.
Physical Construction Still Some Way Off
Despite plans to move TRIPP toward implementation, construction of the roughly 43-kilometer section through Armenia is not yet ready to begin. The section is expected to include a railway, road, pipelines, electricity infrastructure, and digital data links.
The senior State Department official said Azerbaijan has already been building infrastructure toward the Armenian border at its own expense, while Turkey is similarly developing infrastructure up to the border. The remaining section through Armenia is still to be developed.
“We're not there yet,” the official said when asked how soon physical construction of the Armenian section could begin. The administration hopes to begin looking for business and investment opportunities by the end of 2026 or the first quarter of 2027.
The railway will take longer. A feasibility study is expected by the end of 2026 or early 2027, after which companies will be able to bid. The official said completing the railway would likely take at least 18 months, complicated by difficult topography.
Electricity connections could come sooner. Discussions are already underway, with officials expecting electricity operations to begin in 2027, potentially linking the Armenian and Azerbaijani grids with wider Central Asia, Turkish, and European regional networks. Passenger rail is also planned.
TRIPP Leadership
The briefers provided more detail about the planned structure of the TRIPP Development Company (TDC) but no names for its future leadership.
The TDC is being established as a corporate joint venture between the US government and Armenia. The senior State Department official described it as a first-of-its-kind arrangement in which the US will hold a majority stake, with its own board, voting procedures, and management. Several legal matters still need to be finalized before the company can formally be announced.
Projects involving rail, roads, electricity, oil, gas, and data will go through regular tender processes for construction or concessions. The US Development Finance Corporation (DFC) has been involved in the legal and institutional setup, but the TDC itself will operate as a separate US-Armenian corporate entity.
The United States is prepared to invest once feasibility studies establish that individual projects are commercially viable. The State Department is financing part of the feasibility work, with engineering firm AECOM set to present investors with projects unlocked by TRIPP during the event on September 23.
'A Difficult Neighborhood'
Officials described TRIPP as an alternative to existing east-west routes, with the proposed corridor offering Central Asian trade another route to Western markets that bypasses Russia and Iran.
The senior State Department official said Washington had held discussions with regional competitors but declined to characterize their private views.
"There have been numerous conversations with all of the competitors in the region," the official said, adding that Washington was aware of the potential for "hard conversations" in what officials called a difficult neighborhood.
The event is intended to mark a shift from the 2025 peace initiative toward implementation, with more than 40 companies attending.
The project still requires completing feasibility studies, legal arrangements, financing, tendering, and ultimately construction.
While Washington says Armenia and Azerbaijan are on an "irreversible path to peace," their final peace agreement has yet to be completed.
The US nevertheless intends to develop TRIPP alongside the peace process, arguing that greater economic integration could help remove remaining obstacles. As the senior State Department official put it, the focus is on "what happens the day after the piece of paper."
