Citing two unnamed diplomats, an article posted earlier this week on the website of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a U.S. think-tank, said that the proposal made by the administration of President Donald Trump is “grounded in American strategic logic: U.S. business participation as a stabilizing force, akin to a recent deal on rare metals in Ukraine.” It gave no other details of the proposed logistical arrangement.
The author of the article, South Caucasus analyst Olesya Vartanyan, told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service on Wednesday that Josh Huck, a U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state, presented it to Armenia and Azerbaijan during a visit to the two South Caucasus states in late May.
Commenting on the article, the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Ani Badalian, said Yerevan continues to insist on its Crossroads of Peace project calling for full Armenian control over a road and railway that would connect Nakhichevan to the rest of Azerbaijan via Armenia’s Syunik province.
“Moreover, Armenia has proposed a number of solutions in line with that initiative, which may be acceptable to all parties involved. At the same time, various international partners also periodically present their ideas on the normalization of Armenia-Azerbaijan relations, including on the unblocking of transport infrastructure between the two countries,” she said.
Discussions with “all interested partners” are ongoing, Badalian added without elaborating.
U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Josh Huck at a meeting with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, May 29, 2025.
So far there has been no reaction from Azerbaijan, which has been demanding an extraterritorial corridor that will not involve Armenian border and customs checks. The Azerbaijani demands are also backed by Turkey.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul late last month amid Armenian opposition and media suggestions that he could make far-reaching concessions on the issue. Pashinian stoked that speculation with his comments made ahead of the talks. Speaking with members of Turkey’s Armenian community, he said Baku will describe a road and a railway to Nakhichevan as a “corridor” even if they are fully controlled by Armenia.
A senior Armenian official insisted after Pashinian’s trip that Yerevan’s position on Armenian-Azerbaijani transport links remains unchanged.
Meanwhile, the London-based news website Middle East Eye reported on Thursday that Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev are scheduled to meet in Dubai later this month for further talks on an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty finalized in March.
“Two sources familiar with the matter told MEE that the planned meeting in Dubai is a positive sign, indicating that both parties remain willing to engage despite ongoing disagreements,” reported the publication’s correspondent in Ankara.
Pashinian’s office did not confirm or deny the planned talks with Aliyev, saying only that it announces the prime minister’s trips abroad “in a timely and proper manner.”
