Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Wednesday that Armenia and the United States will soon sign an agreement and begin the practical implementation of the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) project.

In his address to the European Parliament at the plenary session, Pashinyan recalled that on January 13, Armenia and the U.S. adopted the TRIPP Implementation Framework. He said the two countries will soon sign an agreement and launch the project.

He also noted that the important and sensitive issue of unblocking regional transport routes was addressed and resolved by the Washington Declaration of August 8.

“This project, stemming from the Armenian government’s Crossroads of Peace initiative, will create new transport opportunities for east–west and west–east communication, as well as for south–north and north–south connectivity, which is a transformative change. It is important to emphasize that I first spoke about the Crossroads of Peace project on October 17, 2023, from this podium at the European Parliament, and the developments described above open new opportunities for the European Union and Armenia in terms of deepening and specifying cooperation in the field of transport connectivity,” the Prime Minister said.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan suggested on Wednesday that if his administration hadn’t made the decision to launch the border delimitation process with Azerbaijan in April 2024, Armenia would have lost its independence.

“In March–April 2024, we reached the brink of Armenia’s statehood. If we had not made the decision in April 2024 to launch the border delimitation process with Azerbaijan, the Republic of Armenia today would, at most, be under foreign rule,” Pashinyan said in his address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

Prime Minister Pashinyan said that making the decision on border delimitation was extremely difficult. “With the encouragement of our church’s de facto leader, an archbishop began a movement in Armenia calling not only to halt the delimitation but, in effect, to revive the Karabakh movement, the conflict, if you will,” he said.

The Prime Minister noted that tens of thousands of citizens, influenced by a disinformation campaign carried out by high-ranking clergymen and their allied opposition forces—who claimed that the government intended to cede Armenian sovereign territory, including ancient churches and villages, to Azerbaijan—took to the streets.

“You can imagine what this meant for our government and political team, which came to power through the 2018 peaceful, non-violent Velvet Revolution. How did we resolve the problem? We spoke to our employer—the people. Today, the village of Kirants in Tavush Province, which the church-opposition leaders had turned into a symbol, warning people that it would be abandoned, has seen nearly a 50 percent increase in households with the support of the government after the delimitation. It is now a completely peaceful, safe, and vibrant settlement. The ancient churches are being restored or renovated,” the Prime Minister emphasized.

Pashinyan added that he personally organizes citizen visits and tours to Kirants to show people what he means by peace and by a “Real Armenia.”

“The symbol I carry on my chest is the internationally recognized territory of the Republic of Armenia,” he said, referring to the pin of the map of Armenia he wears on his suit.

“It is also a symbol of peace because we have established peace with Azerbaijan by recognizing each other’s territorial integrity, sovereignty, and political independence based on the Alma-Ata Declaration of December 21, 1991, whereby Soviet Azerbaijan became independent Azerbaijan and Soviet Armenia became independent Armenia. This outlines the map of independent Armenia. I would not normally address the issue of the involvement of certain clergymen in this peace process if I had not seen how their emissaries, together with certain lobby organizations, have attempted to spread claims in the European Parliament and other reputable international institutions that the Armenian government restricts freedom of conscience, that there is tyranny in Armenia, or that there are political prisoners in Armenia. The truth is that some clergymen, who cynically violated all rules of spiritual morality—thereby making themselves vulnerable to foreign intelligence services, and in some cases, documents prove they were Soviet KGB agents—have taken leadership of the war party in Armenia. They gathered around them former Armenian leaders, certain allied forces, and some Russia-based or pro-Belarus oligarchs, attempting to sacrifice Armenia’s independence for the interests of other countries.

“We will not allow a new conflict or a new war. We will not allow the awareness, peace, and independence won at the cost of thousands of lives to be sacrificed for anti-Christian purposes. In the liturgy of the Armenian Apostolic Church, the word ‘peace’ is mentioned more than 40 times. This is not only about personal or spiritual peace but also about world peace, for which our liturgical texts contain dozens of prayers to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Today, however, some use the altar of Christ to preach conflict, war, and/or internal violence, violating the laws of the Republic of Armenia. This cannot be tolerated in any democratic country,” Pashinyan said.

The Armenian government continues to conduct diplomatic work quietly toward securing the release of Armenians held in Azerbaijan, Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan said in his address to the European Parliament at a plenary session.

Pashinyan noted that Azerbaijan had recently released four Armenian detainees, adding that the news had brought great happiness.

The PM  said the government had quickly returned to what he described as diplomatic silence in order to facilitate the return of the remaining detainees.

“If the government had not previously adopted this approach, the return of the four Armenians on January 14 would not have taken place,” he noted.

Four Armenians were released by Azerbaijan earlier in January, bringing the number of remaining captives to 19.

Earlier in February, an Azerbaijani military court sentenced several former top political and military leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh to life imprisonment on war crime–related charges widely seen as fabricated.

Former Nagorno-Karabakh President Arayik Harutyunyan, former Defense Army commander Levon Mnatsakanyan and his deputy Davit Manukyan, former Foreign Minister Davit Babayan, former Speaker of Parliament Davit Ishkanyan and former State Minister Ruben Vardanyan were sentenced to life imprisonment.

Former Presidents Bako Sahakyan and Arkady Ghukasyan received 20-year prison sentences, as they are over the age of 65 and Azerbaijani law prohibits life imprisonment for individuals of that age.

They are all among the 19 Armenian captives.

Other captives received sentences ranging from 15 to 19 years.

After Azerbaijan’s takeover of Karabakh during its 2023 offensive, the Armenian population—over 100,000 people—fled to Armenia seeking refuge. The former politicians and others were detained during the exodus.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that the biggest current challenge on Armenia’s path toward EU integration is the frozen political dialogue between the European Union and Georgia. He made the remarks during a speech at the European Parliament.

“Georgia is our gateway to the European Union. We adopted the law on launching the process of Armenia’s accession to the EU after Georgia received candidate status for EU membership. This made the prospect of Armenia joining the EU tangible, and our expectation and request is that the EU–Georgia constructive process continues. This is important for Armenia, just as it is for Georgia,” Pashinyan said.

The Prime Minister noted that since the adoption of the law on launching the process of Armenia’s accession to the EU, many in Armenia have asked when the country will become an EU member.

“Our answer is very clear: no country can join the EU without meeting the Union’s standards. Therefore, our task, with the support of our European partners, is to continue along the path of reforms and first objectively meet the criteria for EU accession.

“When this happens, there are two possibilities: either the EU will accept us, or it will not. I say this because I understand that EU enlargement and the admission of a new member is not a simple matter; it is also a political decision.

“Therefore, if the EU accepts Armenia as a full member, that will be excellent. If it does not, we will still benefit, because we will be a country that meets EU standards,” Pashinyan emphasized.

Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan met with President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola in Strasbourg, the Armenian government said in a readout.

The meeting was preceded by an official welcoming ceremony for the prime minister. Pashinyan also signed the European Parliament’s Golden Book, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a readout.

Metsola welcomed Pashinyan’s visit and said the meeting and the prime minister’s upcoming speech provided an important opportunity to reflect on the further development of Armenia–European Union relations, as well as on the democratic and institutional reforms being implemented in Armenia.

Pashinyan expressed gratitude for the invitation and said the Armenian government is committed to consistently developing cooperation with the European Union. He also highly appreciated the EU’s continued support for the reforms underway in Armenia.

The sides discussed a number of issues on the agenda of Armenia–EU cooperation and also touched upon regional developments, emphasizing the importance of efforts aimed at strengthening peace and stability.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan delivered a speech at the plenary session of the European Parliament.

The speech, provided by the Prime Minister’s Office, is presented below:

”Madam President of the European Parliament, distinguished Members of the European Parliament,

It is an honor for me to tell you that since my last speech from this rostrum, which was on October 17, 2023, changes have taken place in Armenia and in the South Caucasus in general that are of century-long, if not millennia-long significance.

And only two years and five months have passed since my last speech.

The most remarkable change is the peace established between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which was recorded on August 8, 2025, in the US capital, Washington, when the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and I signed a joint Declaration at the White House, by which we essentially established peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The Declaration was also signed by US President Donald Trump as a witness.

Before that, the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan had initialed the “Agreement on the Establishment of Peace and Interstate Relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan” in the presence of the US President, the President of Azerbaijan and myself.

The Washington Declaration also resolved the very important and sensitive issue of unblocking regional communications.

In paragraph 3 of the Declaration, it is stated: (I quote) “We reaffirmed the importance of the opening of communications between the two countries for intra-state, bilateral, and international transportation for the promotion of peace, stability, and prosperity in the region and in its neighborhood on the basis of respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and jurisdiction of the States. These efforts are to include unimpeded connectivity between the main part of the Republic of Azerbaijan and its Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic through the territory of the Republic of Armenia with reciprocal benefits for international and intra-state connectivity for the Republic of Armenia.” (end of quote).And already in point 4 of the Declaration it is stated (I quote): “The Republic of Armenia will work with the United States of America and mutually determined third parties, to set forth a framework for the “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity” (TRIPP) connectivity project in the territory of the Republic of Armenia. We confirm our determination to pursue efforts in good faith to achieve this goal in the most expeditious manner.” (end of quote).

The TRIPP program is currently in the crystallization stage. On January 13, the governments of the United States and Armenia adopted the framework for the implementation of the TRIPP, in the near future a corresponding agreement will be signed between Armenia and the United States and the practical implementation of the project will be launched.

This program, which stems from the “Crossroads of Peace” project of the Government of Armenia, will create new transport opportunities for communication from east to west and vice versa, from south to north and vice versa, which is also an epoch-making change. It is important to emphasize that I first spoke about the “Crossroads of Peace” project on October 17, 2023, from this rostrum of the European Parliament, and the developments described above open up new opportunities for the European Union and Armenia in terms of deepening and concretizing cooperation in the field of transport communications.

Madam President of the European Parliament, distinguished Members of the European Parliament,

The positive picture I have presented is certainly overshadowed by the events taking place right next door, in the Islamic Republic of Iran and in a number of Middle Eastern countries. Iran is our good friend, our thousand-year-old neighbor. You already saw the extent of our relations with the United States. The United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, Bahrain, Syria are our good partners. We have recently taken a historic step with Saudi Arabia, establishing diplomatic relations. We are pained by what is happening in the Middle East. Against the backdrop of such an international crisis of such magnitude, we are a small, modest state, and we can only pray for the repose of the souls of all the victims and for the wisdom of our partner leaders to find diplomatic solutions as soon as possible.

Distinguished Members of the European Parliament, Madam President of the European Parliament,

For 8 months now, complete peace has been established on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. 2025 has become the first calendar year since our independence, that is, since 1991, when there were no casualties or injuries as a result of Armenia-Azerbaijani shooting. For months now, residents of the border settlement have not heard the sounds of gunfire.

Moreover, for the first time since independence, in November 2025, a train arrived in the Republic of Armenia through the territory of Azerbaijan, also passing through Georgia. This happened after the President of Azerbaijan announced in October 2025 that he was lifting the restriction on rail transportation through the territory of Azerbaijan to Armenia, and I am grateful to the President of Azerbaijan for such a decision.

We, in turn, have announced that we are ready to ensure transit from Azerbaijan to Türkiye and vice versa right now, because we can do this using our existing roads at the moment. Neither Azerbaijan nor Türkiye have taken advantage of this opportunity yet.

I assume that this is because they think that such a solution might delay the implementation of the TRIPP project. From this rostrum, I officially declare that Armenia has not only no intention, but also no reason to delay the implementation of the TRIPP project, because the project fully meets the short-term, medium-term and long-term interests of the Republic of Armenia and, as you saw from the above-mentioned quote, does not in any way undermine the sovereignty, territorial integrity, or jurisdiction of the Republic of Armenia.Now I also want to say that the Republic of Armenia is ready to provide a road connection between the western regions of Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic via the Kornidzor-Goris-Yeghegnadzor-Yeraskh route using the existing infrastructure.

This proposal of ours is not intended to delay, disrupt, or forget the Washington agreements in any way, and I say this officially. We are making these proposals because we ourselves, as I mentioned above, are using the Azerbaijani railway in a slightly alternative way. Just as Azerbaijan is waiting for the establishment of a connection through the territory of Armenia to Nakhchivan, so we are waiting for the establishment of a railway connection between the south and north of Armenia through the territory of Nakhchivan. This railway route has no alternative for Armenia, the mountainous terrain of Armenia does not allow for a railway connection between the south and north of the country in any other way. As you can see, the expectations of Armenia and Azerbaijan do not contradict each other.

We are also going to use the Georgia-Azerbaijan railway for export. I hope that in the near future Azerbaijan will also become an export destination for Armenia. And Armenia is already importing oil products from Azerbaijan, which has caused a decrease in oil product prices in our market and has broken the monopolies established in the oil product market for decades.

I would also like to thank the Prime Minister of Georgia for supporting the railway communication between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the peace process in general.

Dear attendees,

Especially on international platforms, I am often asked why peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan become possible in 2025, while it was not possible before, what is the reason for this, what changed anyway?

First of all, of course, the personal involvement and initiative of the President of the United States, Donald Trump, was essential and turning point.

The second factor that made peace possible was the realization of the interconnectedness of the last 100 years of history of Armenia and Azerbaijan. In 1918, the two countries gained independence on the same day. Two years later, in 1920, they lost their independence with a time lapse of months.

In 1991, Armenia and Azerbaijan gained independence again with a time lapse of months, or one could even say on the same day, when the Alma Ata Declaration recorded the end of the Soviet Union.

The Armenian-Azerbaijani clashes of 1920 were one of the key factors that prevented the two countries from maintaining and developing their independence.

Now, a century later, we live in an equally complex region, and geopolitical floods, like at the beginning of the 20th century, will not spare us now if we do not take care of ourselves, because conflict and enmity are the virus that blinds us, makes our independence and statehood vulnerable, and makes us a tempting target for deadly geopolitical diseases. And so, the realization of the strategic interdependence of our destinies is another essential factor that made peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan possible.

In order not to give room for misinterpretations, I would like to emphasize that this is my personal opinion and in my personal conviction that in March-April 2024 we had reached the brink of Armenia’s statehood and if in April 2024 we had failed to make a decision to launch the process of demarcation with Azerbaijan, the Republic of Armenia would be a territory under foreign rcontrol at best today.

Moreover, making that decision to demarcate was very difficult. With the encouragement of the de facto chief of our church, one of the archbishops had started a movement in Armenia demanding not only not to carry out the demarcation, but also to essentially activate the Karabakh movement, or rather, the conflict.

Tens of thousands of citizens, succumbing to the disinformation campaign carried out by high-ranking clergymen and their supporting opposition forces, who claimed that the Government was preparing to cede the sovereign territories of Armenia and the ancient churches and settlements located in them to Azerbaijan, took to the streets.

You can imagine what this meant for our Government and political team, which came to power through the people’s, non-violent, velvet revolution of 2018.

And how did we solve the problem?

We talked to our employer, the people. And now, the village of Kirants in Tavush region, which the leaders of the church-opposition movement had made their symbol, convincing people that the village would be emptied and abandoned, has had about a 50 percent increase in houses with the support of the Government after the demarcation and today is an absolutely peaceful, safe and colorful settlement. And the ancient churches are being restored or renovated.

I personally organize visits and tours for groups of citizens to the village of Kirants in Tavush region, to show people what we mean by peace, what I mean by Real Armenia, the symbol of which, the image of the internationally recognized territory of the Republic of Armenia, I carry on my chest.

This is also a symbol of peace, because we established peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan by recognizing each other’s territorial integrity, sovereignty, and political independence on the basis of the Alma Ata Declaration of December 21, 1991, according to which Soviet Azerbaijan became independent Azerbaijan, Soviet Armenia became independent Armenia, and this is the outline of the map of the territory of independent Armenia.

I would not have touched upon the topic of the involvement of some clergy in this process against peace, if I had not seen how the emissaries of these clergy and representatives of some lobbying organizations affiliated with them are trying to spread in the European Parliament and other authoritative international structures that the Armenian Government is restricting freedom of conscience, that a dictatorship is being established in Armenia, that there are political prisoners in Armenia.

The reality is that some clergymen, who cynically violated all the rules of spiritual good conduct, thus making themselves vulnerable to foreign special services (by the way, the fact that some of them were agents of the USSR KGB is proven by documents), have assumed the leadership of the war party in the Republic of Armenia, consolidating around them the former leaders of Armenia, some forces associated with them, some pro-Russian and pro-Belarusian oligarchs, and are trying to sacrifice Armenia’s independence to the interests of third countries.

We will not allow a new conflict, a new war, we will not allow the consciousness, peace and independence gained at the cost of thousands of victims to be sacrificed for anti-Christian purposes. In the text of our liturgy of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church, the word peace is mentioned more than 40 times, and it is not only about the person, the soul, but also about world peace, about which there are dozens of supplications in the canonical text of our liturgy, to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and today some are using the altar of Christ to preach conflict, war and/or intra-Armenian violence, trespassing the boundaries of the legislation of the Republic of Armenia. This cannot be tolerated in any democratic country.Honorable President of the European Parliament, distinguished Members of Parliament, dear guests,

One of our important tasks is also to ensure that the emotions of our Karabakh sisters and brothers who have become refugees are not exploited, giving them false hopes.

Our strategy in this regard is very clear: our Karabakh sisters and brothers must receive Armenian citizenship and be permanently settled in the Republic of Armenia. We have already launched their resettlement program, which has benefited 4,886 families so far. We need the greatest possible support from our international partners to solve this problem aimed at strengthening peace.

Dear guests,

We are criticized that the peace established between Armenia and Azerbaijan is not perfect. Please tell me, where is the peace perfect, where is there perfect peace and where has it been and when?

And on the contrary, it is the will to care for peace that can make it as close to perfect as possible and this is how we approach all issues, including the issue of our compatriots held in prison in Azerbaijan. Recently, Azerbaijan released four more of our compatriots.

The Armenian society, we all experienced happiness on that occasion. But the Government very quickly returned to continuing its silent diplomatic work, for the sake of the return of others, because I am convinced that if we had not previously chosen the style of silent diplomatic work, the return of our four compatriots on January 14 would simply not have taken place.

Honorable President of the European Parliament, distinguished Members of Parliament, dear guests,

The next incredible change that has taken place in Armenia since my previous speech is that in March 2025, the law “On the Launch of the Process of the Republic of Armenia’s Accession to the European Union” was adopted in our country, which entered into force in April 2025.

This is the political crystallization of the statement I made from this podium on October 17, 2023, that the Republic of Armenia is ready to be closer to the European Union, as much as the European Union deems it possible.

Now, after the adoption of this law, many in Armenia are asking when Armenia will become a member of the European Union. Our answer is very clear: no country can become a member of the EU without meeting the standards of the European Union. Therefore, our task is to continue the path of reforms with the support of our European partners and first objectively meet the criteria for EU membership.

When this happens, there will be two ways: either the EU will accept us as a full member, or it will not. I say this because I understand that EU enlargement, the inclusion of a new member, is not a simple matter, and is also a matter of political decision.

Therefore, if the EU accepts Armenia as a full member, it is very good. If it does not, we will still benefit, because we will be a country that complies with EU standards.

I must say frankly, however, that the biggest problem on the path of Armenia’s integration into the EU at the moment is the frozen state of the political dialogue between the European Union and Georgia. Georgia is a path for us to the European Union, and we adopted the law on the launch of the process of Armenia’s accession to the European Union after Georgia received the status of a candidate for EU membership. This made Armenia’s EU membership prospect tangible, and it is our expectation and request that the European Union-Georgia constructive process should develop. This is important for Armenia, just as important as for Georgia.Honorable President of the European Parliament, distinguished Members of the European Parliament, dear guests,

The people’s non-violent, velvet Revolution that took place in Armenia in 2018 was based on the understandings of freedom, democracy, and the rule of law. We kept our democracy viable and developing in conditions of war, but we also understood that it is peace that paves the way for making democracy irreversible. In reality, we have achieved peace thanks to democracy, thanks to our commitment to democratic values, because we were able to overcome the patterns of thinking imposed on Armenia by listening to the people, real, living people who yearn for life and peace.

On June 7, 2026, the next parliamentary elections will be held in the Republic of Armenia, and with these elections, our democracy must make peace irreversible, and then, with peace, democracy will become irreversible. We are going this way, and I say this as a legitimate representative of the people of the Republic of Armenia.

Long live peace, long live democracy.”

A monument to the Armenian alphabet was unveiled in Strasbourg near the European Parliament building in the presence of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and European Parliament President Roberta Metsola.

The statue, titled “Armatagir-Script: The Power of Roots, the Strength of Dialogue,” was installed by the Republic of Armenia in the area adjacent to the European Parliament’s administrative building as a sign of gratitude for the parliament’s continuous support, the Armenian Prime Minister’s Office said in a readout.

The sculpture is composed of letters of the Armenian alphabet.

In her speech, Metsola said dialogue is the cornerstone of democracy and brings people together.

“That is what the European Parliament is about: building dialogue with each other, with citizens and with the world around us,” she said.

Metsola added that the depiction of the Armenian alphabet strengthens the Armenian language’s place in Europe’s rich and diverse dialogue. She also quoted Armenian poet Silva Kaputikyan: “Wherever you are, wherever you go under this moon, do not forget your mother tongue.”

Pashinyan said the creation of the Armenian alphabet in the 5th century is one of the key pillars of Armenian identity.

He added that the sculpture symbolically highlights the connection between Armenian identity and European identity, noting that speech, knowledge and written text are fundamental elements of democracy, which cannot exist without communication, writing, speeches and laws.

32 Armenian citizens returned to Armenia via the latest Muscat–Yerevan flight, according to the Foreign Ministry.

Armenians stranded in the UAE and other Gulf states amid the Middle East escalation and airspace closures have been using the Muscat–Yerevan flights to return home, with the Armenian embassy in the UAE facilitating transfers to Oman for the connection.

The Foreign Ministry said that other nationals are also using the flight to transit to their home countries via Armenia.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Foreign Ministry said that from 4-10 March, 253 Armenian citizens were transported by the Armenian embassy in the UAE and the Armenian Consulate General in Dubai from the UAE to Oman for flights to Yerevan.

Central Electoral Commission Chairman Vahagn Hovakimyan said that fake news is the biggest threat to the upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for June 7 in Armenia. 

“The biggest risk we currently assess for the elections is the spread of disinformation — falsehoods which, in our case, are also aimed at creating distrust in the electoral system,” Hovakimyan said at a press briefing.

Referring to live broadcasts from polling stations during voting, Hovakimyan noted that during the previous elections such broadcasts were carried out from 1,500 polling stations, covering 97 percent of voters.

“During the 2026 elections, we will ensure broadcasts from polling stations with more than 300 voters, which means about 1,800 polling stations. This means we will provide live broadcasts from polling stations covering 99 percent of voters. These live streams allow us to follow up on any issue,” the CEC official said.