Is TRIPP a road section of only about 42 km in length passing through the territory of Armenia? Does it also include the road passing through Yeraskh village? If so, will the Yeraskh road operate under the same regime as the other road passing through the territory of Armenia? Opposition MP Kristine Vardanyan asked these questions to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of Armenia, Ararat Mirzoyan, Wednesday’s meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Foreign Relations.
The meeting discussed the draft on ratification of the framework agreement on strategic cooperation between Armenia and the US on the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) regional transport project.
Also, the aforesaid opposition lawmaker asked these questions on the topic: “How wide is TRIPP, and what specific territory is it about? Will there be stops on those 42 kilometers or not?”
In response, Ararat Mirzoyan stated that he could not answer the question about the width of TRIPP.
“I consider the question about the width… I cannot answer it, because such a concept does not exist. We cannot talk about the width of TRIPP. For example, an infrastructure, say, the [natural] gas pipeline, will pass along the Ghazakh-Ijevan route, and the railway—through Meghri… What is the width in that case?… I have read this document 20 thousand times and I have not come across the words ‘special regime’ in it,” said Mirzoyan.
As for whether there will be stops on the railway to be built within the framework of TRIPP, the member of the Armenian government answered positively.