US and Armenia Agree to 49-Year Lease for Trump-Backed Corridor
Marco Rubio greets Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan in Washington, DC, on January 13.
Photographer: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty ImagesArmenia plans to extend the right to develop a regional transit corridor across its territory to the US for 49 years as part of a process mediated by President Donald Trump to end years of conflict with neighboring Azerbaijan.
In order to develop the so-called Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, which plans to connect Azerbaijan with its Naxcivan exclave through the territory of Armenia, Yerevan will offer the US a 74% share in the TRIPP Development Company undertaking the project while retaining the remaining stake, according to a joint statement released in Armenia on Wednesday.