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"On January 24, 2026, President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance will travel to Armenia and Azerbaijan in February 2026 to build on recent peace efforts and advance the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP)", writes Vasif Husseynov in this op-ed for commonspace.eu "In his statement, President Trump said the visit would “build on our peace efforts, and advance the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity,” signaling Washington’s intent to maintain high-level engagement in a region of growing strategic significance." The announcement came just days after January 14, 2026, when U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan signed the Implementation Framework for TRIPP in Washington, D.C. The agreement translated commitments reached at the August 8, 2025, Washington Summit into a practical roadmap for achieving unimpeded multimodal transit connectivity between Azerbaijan and its Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic through Armenian territory. According to official statements, the framework provides mechanisms for planning, construction, operation, and oversight of infrastructure while fully affirming Armenia’s sovereign authority over the route. The expanded American role in the South Caucasus has elicited reactions from other regional powers. Russia, previously the primary security guarantor in the region and the former key mediator in the talks on the Zangezur corridor, has seen its influence overtaken by U.S. participation under TRIPP. Iranian officials have voiced objections as well, concerned about increased U.S. involvement near their borders and potential shifts in regional security dynamics. While both powers have expressed discontent, they have been unable to prevent these changes. Baku and Yerevan, however, understand that their region must remain a platform for cooperation among all external actors, not a theater of confrontation. These developments indicate that the South Caucasus has moved from the periphery to the forefront of U.S. foreign policy. The sequence of the Washington Summit, the January 14 TRIPP implementation framework, and the upcoming Vice Presidential visit reflects a sustained strategy aimed at consolidating peace, promoting connectivity, and advancing American influence. By anchoring peace agreements in infrastructural and economic frameworks, embedding strategic oversight in implementation mechanisms, and elevating regional partners within its broader peace architecture, Washington is consolidating its role in a region of enduring strategic importance. (You can read Vasif Husseynov's opinion piece in full by clicking the image)

Donald Trump talks a lot. Speech is his weapon of choice, and attack is his strategy. Dangerous stuff if you happen to be the president of the United States, and have a huge and well-equipped military machine at your disposal in case you want to put words in action. But it does not require a shot to be fired for a lot of people to get hurt, and for relations built over decades to be spoilt. Trump was is Davos last week. His speech was, as expected, controversial. But it was what he said after his return that caused a stir. In an interview with Fox News on Thursday, Trump said of Nato troops: "We've never needed them. We have never really asked anything of them. "They'll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan... and they did, they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines.” In 2005, I took a sabbatical from my NGO work to go and work for six months with the United Nations in Afghanistan. I was part of a five-person team that was to help set up the new Afghan Parliament. My office in Kabul was in Wazir Akbar Khan District, a stone throw away from the British Embassy.  It was as safe as could be in Afghanistan at the time. But, in fact, nowhere was safe. The Serena Hotel, where I used to go every Friday for coffee was bombed soon after, leaving many dead. Every time you left Afghanistan you were glad you were still alive. More than 3,500 coalition soldiers died, about two-thirds of them Americans, as of 2021 when the US withdrew from the country. The UK suffered the second-highest number of military deaths in the conflict behind the US, which saw 2,461 fatalities. Most of the 457 British troops who died serving in Afghanistan over a period of nearly 20 years were killed in Helmand - the scene of the heaviest fighting. Hundreds more suffered injuries and lost limbs. Trump’s insult to the dead, wounded and others who served in Afghanistan will not be forgotten easily. The US will find this out when it needs allies to support it, as it will sooner or later. The NATO alliance was already rattled by Trumps attempts to absorb Greenland, part of the Kingdom of Denmark, a NATO ally. But all the shenanigans around Greenland will blur into insignificance when compared to the insult to thousands of war dead and veterans. The bad taste will linger for a long time and spoils relations that have been built over decades. (click the picture to read the Monday Commentary in full).

On January 14, 2026, Armenia and the United States jointly announced the publication of the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) Implementation Framework, representing a concrete follow-up to the August 8 agreements aimed at operationalizing the planned multimodal transit route across Armenian territory. The Framework outlines how TRIPP will be established to create unimpeded, multimodal transit connectivity linking Azerbaijan’s main territory with its Nakhichevan exclave, enhancing regional trade, stability, and integration while advancing sovereignty, territorial integrity, and reciprocal benefits. It sets out the objectives of TRIPP for all parties: for the U.S., expanded markets and critical supply-chain connectivity; for Armenia, an enhanced role as a transit and economic hub, foreign investment attraction, institutional capacity building, and expanded export potential; and for the region, peace, prosperity, and improved connectivity. Mariam Khurshudyan an expert at the Orbelli Centre in Yerevan looks at an eventful year in US-Armenian relations. She says that TRIPP represents a potentially meaningful step toward enhanced connectivity and cooperation, offering opportunities for economic development and regional engagement. At the same time, its long-term significance will depend on careful implementation, sustained political commitment, and the ability to manage regional sensitivities. In conclusion, Armenian diplomacy has succeeded in elevating what could have remained a narrowly bilateral or technical arrangement into a matter of broader international relevance. By anchoring the process in a multilateral context and engaging global partners, Yerevan positioned the initiative as part of a wider conversation on connectivity, stability, and economic cooperation in the South Caucasus and beyond. While the project’s ultimate impact will depend on implementation and regional dynamics, this diplomatic approach has modestly increased Armenia’s international engagement and contributed to a broader range of external partnerships.(Read her analysis in full by clicking the image).