The Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, reacted to the statement by the country's ex-president Robert Kocharyan that "the USA has no economic interest in the TRIPP project."
Kocharyan made these remarks at a press conference held on January 29. He stated that the USA's interest in the TRIPP project (Zangezur corridor) is not economic but to control Iran. The ex-president also noted that the claims about investments of hundreds of millions or billions of dollars in TRIPP do not correspond to reality. According to his assessment, this project can be carried out with 80 million dollars, and the Armenian government can implement it with its own funds.
Medianews.az, citing Armenia's Public Radio, reports that Nikol Pashinyan responded to Kocharyan's claim at a briefing following the government meeting on January 29.
Pashinyan emphasized that TRIPP is primarily an investment and economic project: "Within the framework of this project, millions and hundreds of millions of investments will be made in Armenia. TRIPP is a large investment program, and of course, it will also bring great security guarantees."
Pashinyan also said that claims stating that a country like the USA, which is entirely based on economic logic, has no economic interest are illogical: "Don't you follow Trump's policy? All his decisions have an economic basis because the economic development, welfare of the USA, and of course the necessary security environment are important to every leader serving their own country's interests, as it was for Trump."
Let us recall that on August 8, 2025, the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, and the Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, signed a joint declaration in Washington in the presence of the US President Donald Trump. The declaration also envisages establishing a connection between the southwestern part of Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. The project is to be carried out under the patronage of the USA and bears the name of its President Donald Trump: Trump’s International Peace and Prosperity Path. The English abbreviation is TRIPP.
