‘The losers here are China, Russia and Iran. The winners here are the West,’ a senior administration official says.
WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump will host the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan on Aug. 8 at the White House to sign a joint declaration ending four decades of hostility between the two nations.
The accord also launches the “Trump Route,” a new transport corridor aimed at unlocking the region’s commercial potential, the White House said.
During the meeting, the two countries will sign a joint declaration formalizing the agreement and establishing the “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity,” or TRIPP, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told reporters during a call previewing the meeting.
“By locking in this path to peace, we are unlocking the great potential of the South Caucasus region in trade, transit, and energy flows,” Kelly said.
Trump will also sign bilateral agreements with both countries that “span energy, technology, economic cooperation, border security, infrastructure, and trade,” she added.
The new route will be a multimodal transit corridor linking mainland Azerbaijan and its Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, enhancing regional trade routes.
The new route will allow goods to be moved from not just the Caucasus but also Central Asia without transiting through Russia, Iran, or China, according to the White House.
“What President Trump has done is he’s taken the politics out of the picture and made common sense prevail,” a senior White House official said during the call.
“What this will do for American businesses, and frankly, for energy resources across Europe, will be enormously powerful.
“The losers here are China, Russia, and Iran. The winners here are the West.”
Azerbaijan has long sought a transport corridor through Armenia to connect its main territory with Nakhchivan bordering Turkey. Under the agreement to be signed on Friday, Armenia will grant the United States exclusive long-term development rights to build a route through the southern part of Armenia.
The U.S. government plans to delegate the project to a consortium to handle both infrastructure and management.
The official said that Trump is going to sign on Aug. 8 a directive to “set up a TRIPP negotiating team” with talks expected to start “in the middle of next week.”
The official noted that since the announcement yesterday morning, they had received calls from nine potential operators, including three American companies.
“We’re going to get everybody around the table. We’re going to find the most first-class operating system,” the official said.
By Emel Akan
