Armenia parliament approves US-backed TRIPP route amid opposition criticism

Armenia's parliament has approved the Armenian-American TRIPP project, the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, which aims to reconnect the South Caucasus. On October 28, the vote was 63 in favour and 32 against, with ten MPs abstaining. All votes in favour came from the dominant Civil Contract party, while the opposition voted against.

Opposition leader Anna Grigoryan said Azerbaijan's interests are more clearly represented than Armenia's and demanded credible revenue estimates. Strong Armenia's Narek Karapetyan asked why implementation should not wait until Azerbaijan signs the peace treaty. Speaker Ruben Rubinyan called it positive that TRIPP's implementation is independent of the treaty's signing.

The published Armenia-US framework keeps policing, border security, customs, immigration, taxation and statistics under Armenian control. A TRIPP Development Company would be 74% American and 26% Armenian for the first 49 years. The peace document has been initialed but not signed or ratified.