Yerevan, August 27 — Armenia’s Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan has dismissed widespread rumors that his country agreed to a 99-year lease of the so-called Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP).
During an interview with public television, Mirzoyan clarified that the project’s terms—including duration and technical parameters—are still under discussion, and no such lease has been finalized.
Mirzoyan emphasized that any infrastructure developed under the agreement will remain firmly under Armenian control, asserting: “Everything will be implemented within the framework of our territorial integrity, sovereignty and jurisdiction.”
According to the joint Washington declaration signed on August 8 by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev—facilitated by U.S. President Donald Trump—the Trump Route (Zangezur Corridor) would link mainland Azerbaijan to its Nakhchivan exclave through southern Armenia under a U.S.-hosted development model with a 99-year agreement.
President Pashinyan has described TRIPP as “the largest investment project in modern Armenian history,” offering Iran a new rail access to the Black Sea and creating direct connections between Russia and Iran.
