Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan has dismissed claims that the United States has no economic interest in Armenia and is pursuing the TRIPP project primarily to control the Iranian border, describing such assertions as outdated and unfounded.
Speaking at a briefing, Pashinyan responded to former President Robert Kocharyan’s comments regarding the TRIPP project. The Prime Minister stressed that the framework documents related to the initiative have been published and clearly exclude any delegation of Armenia’s sovereign functions to third parties.
“Even if the implementation framework of TRIPP had not been published, signed, adopted, and made public, it would still be clear that it rules out any outsourcing of the sovereign functions of the Republic of Armenia,” Pashinyan said. He emphasized that the documents adopted and published jointly by the governments of Armenia and the United States explicitly exclude any transfer of control over Armenia’s borders or other sovereign responsibilities.
The Prime Minister acknowledged that at present Armenia’s state border is not fully under the complete control of Armenian institutions. However, he noted that under existing agreements, steps are being taken to ensure that in the medium term Armenia’s borders and checkpoints will come under the full authority of national institutions, with no possibility of delegating these functions.
Pashinyan underlined that TRIPP is first and foremost a large-scale investment and economic program, which envisages hundreds of millions of dollars in investments in Armenia. According to him, the project will also bring significant security guarantees as a result of these investments.
Addressing concerns about the potential involvement of third parties, Pashinyan stated that the framework allows for such involvement only by mutual consent and does not undermine Armenia’s sovereignty. He also stressed that Armenia continues to maintain and deepen relations with all its key partners.
“We work very closely with both Russia and China,” the Prime Minister said. He recalled that Armenia launched a strategic dialogue with China following his visit last year, formalized after a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Pashinyan also noted that he has held two to three bilateral meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin this year alone.
Responding directly to the argument that the United States lacks economic interest in Armenia, Pashinyan said such a view ignores U.S. political realities. He pointed out that U.S. policy decisions are driven by economic logic and that economic development and prosperity are core priorities for U.S. President Donald Trump, alongside security considerations.
“How can the United States not have an economic interest?” Pashinyan said. “All of President Trump’s decisions have an economic rationale. The economic development and well-being of the United States, and the security necessary for that, are his priorities – as they are for the leaders of all countries who act in the interests of their own states.”
The Prime Minister reiterated that Armenia’s own state interest is centered on economic development and that the TRIPP project aligns with this strategic priority.
