The United States is trying to quickly strengthen its presence in the region in logistics, energy and mineral directions, and the signing of TRIPP, strategic partnership and documents on mining and processing of minerals and rare minerals between Armenia and the United States should be considered in this logic.

Այս մասին «168 Ժամ»-ի հետ զրույցում մեկնաբանեց Doctor of political science, professor, energy security expert Vahe Davtyanexpressing his opinion about the documents signed between RA Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

«In general, we are dealing not only with bilateral documents, but with wider geopolitical realignments. Washington is trying to quickly strengthen its presence in the South Caucasus, especially in the areas of logistics, energy and mineral resources. This is a competition with Russia, China and Iran at the same timeVahe Davtyan commented.

According to the expert, regarding TRIPP, it should be understood that it is not only about Armenia. According to the expert, this is also an attempt to diversify the Middle Corridor with the Europe-Caucasus-Asia axis.

“Washington is trying to form such a communication architecture that will reduce the role of Iran, compete with Russia’s “North-South” project and ensure stricter control over Europe-Asia connections.

There is also a large energy settlement here. After 2022, Asia has become an important alternative energy destination for Europe. The USA is interested in Europe’s long-term dependence on American liquefied gas. That is why it is important for Washington to control not only the supply of energy carriers, but also the logistic corridors through which Europe-Asia economic ties are built. TRIPP should be considered in this logic.

There are serious risks here for Armenia. If there is no complete unblocking, if all regional communications are not opened, TRIPP may remain more of a political project than an economic one. In that case, Armenia receives a great geopolitical burden and, at the same time, a limited economic result. The figure of 15 million tons being drummed is absolutely barebones and does not have any rational calculation at its base. Let me remind you that, for example, the capacity of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is 6 million tons, and in 2025, only 0.5 million tons were transported through it.” Davtyan mentioned.

Speaking about the framework memorandum signed on May 26 between Armenia and the United States for supply assurance in the field of extraction and processing of important minerals and rare minerals: Vahe Davtyan draws attention to the global interest in Syunik, noting that if the topic of possible uranium reserves also comes into circulation in this context, then the strategic value of the region will increase even more. However, according to the expert, the key issue here is Armenia’s sovereignty.

 “The document on minerals should be considered in the same logic. Today, there is a fierce competition for rare metals in the world. They are necessary for chips, military technologies, artificial intelligence and “green” energy. Syunik in particular, but not only, is becoming a zone of global interest in this sense. If the topic of possible uranium reserves also comes into circulation, the strategic value of the region will increase even more. But the key issue here is sovereignty.

Armenia should not turn into only a raw material annex. If we just export minerals, and the entire technological and industrial chain remains outside, the economic effect will be minimal, and the political dependencies will be much greater.” the expert thinks.

Let’s remind that on May 26, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Yerevan for a short visit. RA Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan met him at “Zvartnots” airport. The Armenian Foreign Minister and the US Secretary of State signed three documents after their meeting at Zvartnots airport: the framework agreement between Armenia and the United States on the TRIPP project, the Armenia-US comprehensive strategic partnership charter and the framework memorandum between Armenia and the United States on the extraction and processing of important minerals and rare minerals.

—