In Baku on Tuesday, Vance and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed a strategic partnership covering security, economic cooperation, and technology, with both sides highlighting closer collaboration on defense and energy security. The visit also spotlighted a planned transit corridor known as the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP), intended to link mainland Azerbaijan with its Nakhchivan exclave through Armenian territory. The project builds on a U.S.-brokered Armenia-Azerbaijan peace agreement reached in August 2025. Earlier in Yerevan, Vance discussed civil nuclear cooperation under a so-called “123 Agreement” framework, as Armenia seeks alternatives to its aging Russian-built Metsamor nuclear power plant. Russia said it would continue developing ties with both countries despite the new U.S. initiatives.
