The China Mail - JD Vance set for Armenia, Azerbaijan trip

He will be the most senior US official ever to visit Armenia, where he is also expected to advance a flagship project to improve road-and-rail infrastructure in the region.

His visit to Armenia -- until recently a close Russia ally -- will come as Moscow's influence has dwindled in the region during its almost four-year conflict in Ukraine.

During a summit in the White House in August 2025, US President Donald Trump brokered an agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan that saw the two countries commit to renouncing claims on each other's territory and refrain from using force.

The arch-foes have fought two wars over the Karabakh region, Azerbaijan finally seizing the mountainous territory in a lightning offensive in 2023, ending three decades of rule by Armenian separatists.

Vance will travel first to Yerevan on Monday for talks with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the Armenian premier's office said.

He will head to Azerbaijan's capital Baku the next day.

The State Department said earlier that the visit would "advance President Donald Trump's peace efforts and promote the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP)".

The TRIPP is a proposed road-and-rail corridor designed to link Azerbaijan with its Nakhchivan exclave, cut off from the mainland by Armenian territory, while integrating the region into a wider east-west trade route connecting Central Asia and the Caspian basin to Europe.

- Shifting alignments -

Washington has presented the project as a confidence-building measure following decades of conflict between the two countries.

Azerbaijan sees the opening of regional communications as the main precondition for signing a comprehensive peace treaty with its rival.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan announced in January an implementation framework for TRIPP, building on commitments made at a White House peace summit last year.

The framework stresses sovereignty, territorial integrity and reciprocity, while promising economic gains for both Armenia and Azerbaijan through expanded trade and transit.

US officials say the route would also strengthen regional connectivity and bolster American commercial interests by opening new supply chains that bypass Russia and Iran.

Few details of Vance's programme have been disclosed, but the visit comes as Washington seeks a larger diplomatic and economic footprint in the South Caucasus amid shifting regional alignments.

Historically Russia's outpost in the South Caucasus, Armenia has frozen its participation in the Moscow-led security pact and moved to deepen ties with the US and the European Union.

Russia's influence across the former Soviet Union has been strained since its invasion of Ukraine, which has spooked many of the countries that were for decades dominated by Moscow.

Georgia -- once Washington's key ally in the region -- will be snubbed by Vance during the trip.

US-Georgian ties have suffered an unprecedented blow after what US officials have described as Tbilisi's democratic backsliding and a pro-Russian tilt, prompting Washington to suspend the strategic partnership agreement between the two countries.

X.Gu--ThChM