The US intends to provide Armenia with $145 million in assistance, aimed at implementing the Trump Route project and other agreements reached in Washington on 8 August.
The statement came on Thursday, during a meeting between Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan and Brendan Hanrahan, the US Senior Bureau Official for the State Department’s Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs.
‘This is the first tranche of funding aimed at the implementation of the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP), and related agreements reached on 8 August, by supporting investments in trade, infrastructure, critical mineral supply chains, and cross-border security’, Hanrahan said during the meeting.
In turn, Grigoryan noted Armenia ‘highly appreciated the agreements reached’ in Washington and ‘expressed hope that through joint efforts it will be possible to develop bilateral relations within the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Republic of Armenia and the US’.
The Washington summit on 8 August saw the initialling of the peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as an agreement to establish a route between Azerbaijan and its exclave of Nakhchivan through Armenia called TRIPP, or the Trump Route.
Previously, on Tuesday, the Armenian Foreign Ministry announced that it expected a US delegation to arrive in Armenia soon to discuss the Trump Route, while Azerbaijan received representatives of the US Certified Trade Mission on Monday.
‘Discussions with the American side are planned in the near future’, Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ani Badalyan told RFE/RL.
It remains unclear when the visit will take place.
During a press briefing on 28 August, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that there were ‘no substantive discussions’ on the Trump Route after the 8 August summit, Armenpress reported.
‘We will start more substantive discussions in September with the US on their part and Azerbaijan on their part’, Pashinyan said.
Arshaluys Barseghyan
