In February, US Vice President JD Vance is expected to visit Armenia and Azerbaijan. According to the report, the trip is meant to deepen Washington’s strategic partnership with both countries after peace arrangements between Baku and Yerevan. The exact date has not been announced, although Vance is known to be due in Milan on February 6 for the opening of the Winter Olympics.
The article links the new phase of regional rapprochement to agreements shaped after the leaders’ joint meeting in Washington on August 8, 2025, and later to the ceremony in Davos on January 22, 2026, where Donald Trump presented the “Peace Council.” After signing a trilateral declaration, the sides committed themselves to dropping territorial claims and reopening transport links.
A central element is the TRIPP project, a transport route through Armenia’s Syunik region that is meant to connect Azerbaijan with Nakhichevan. The article also cites US economic initiatives: export licenses for technology supplies to Armenia, Firebird investments of $500 million, and possible development of AI infrastructure. Azerbaijan, the report says, also expects contracts in the defense sector.
“This shows the seriousness of the US approach,” Farhad Mammadov, director of the Baku-based Center for South Caucasus Studies, told the publication, commenting on the Trump administration’s involvement in Armenian-Azerbaijani normalization.
Sources in Armenia also point to domestic political risks. In their view, Vance’s visit could be used by the authorities in the context of parliamentary elections scheduled for June, while a stronger US role may be interpreted as a sign of geopolitical reorientation.
The article also notes that Georgia was left out of the trip and is increasingly losing ground as a key Western partner in the region. Georgian analysts interviewed by the author argue that, amid growing US engagement with Armenia and Azerbaijan, Tbilisi has found itself in the position of an outsider, although new transport links in the South Caucasus could still create additional opportunities for the country.