US Vice President JD Vance arrived in Armenia on February 9 to kick off a four-day visit to the Caucasus in support of a US-brokered peace deal and to push a strategic transit corridor Washington sees as central to reshaping trade, energy, and influence in the region.
Vance, the highest-ranking US official to visit Armenia from the Trump administration so far, landed in the capital, Yerevan, some six months after the country signed a US-brokered a deal with Azerbaijan aiming to end more than 40 years of conflict over the Karabakh region.
Vance is meeting with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and other senior Armenian officials and will later head to Baku for talks with officials in the Azerbaijani capital on February 10-11, according to the White House.
SEE ALSO: Once Washington's Closest Caucasus Partner, Georgia To Watch Vance Visit From The Outside"I believe that we are at the point where we can actually have Armenia serve as an important instrument for economic development in this region of the world, which will both persist and maintain the peace agreement, but also could lead to a lot of prosperity for the people of Armenia, and importantly to me, to the people of the United States," Vance said as he headed into a meeting with Pashinian.
"So we're going to keep on working on these things. This visit is just an important step."
Vance's trip is heavily focused on developing economic relations with the two countries, which US officials have said will help build trust between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
As part of the path to peace, a proposed 43-kilometer road-and-rail corridor, to be called the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP), would run through Armenia and link Azerbaijan to its Nakhchivan exclave while opening a new East-West trade artery bypassing Russia and Iran.
Armenia and Azerbaijan had been locked in conflict since the late 1980s over Nagorno-Karabakh, a region internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but long controlled by ethnic Armenian separatists.
In September 2023, Azerbaijan retook full control of Karabakh following a military offensive.
Last summer, leaders from the two countries agreed on a major deal -- brokered by Washington -- aimed at ending decades of conflict, including two full-scale wars.
The agreement gives the United States leasing rights to develop the transit corridor, which would run through southern Armenian territory along the border with Iran.
The corridor would eventually include a rail line, oil and gas lines, and fiberoptic lines, allowing for the movement of goods and eventually people.
Protesters Call On Vance
More than 20 Armenian human rights groups sent an open letter to Vance, urging the US vice president to help secure the release of Armenians currently detained in jails in Azerbaijan.
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Protesters Call On Vance To Secure Release Of Armenians Jailed In Azerbaijan
A group of Karabakh refugees rallied outside Pashinian's official residence calling on Vance to press for the prisoners' release.
Last week, an Azerbaijani military court handed down lengthy prison sentences to Armenian separatist leaders in a war crimes trial.