Armenia Courts New Backers For Contested Trade Link

Yerevan moves to broaden investor base for proposed corridor as leaders warn Washington’s focus may shift to the Gulf.

Armenia has begun actively recruiting new partners to help build and run a proposed transit route that would link Azerbaijan with its Nakhchivan exclave across southern Armenia, officials said, seeking to keep construction on track even if U.S. attention drifts toward tensions in the Persian Gulf. Government leaders described the project as central to the country’s economic plan and said they want third-party capital and technical input rather than relying solely on the bilateral U.S.-Armenia framework unveiled earlier this year.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan told reporters this week that the arrangement between Washington and Yerevan is progressing, but that Yerevan is also talking to potential outside financiers and operators. The venture would create a roughly 42-kilometer (about 26-mile) land link through Syunik province intended to become a key segment of the Middle Corridor that carries goods from Central Asia toward Europe. Officials say local businesses could stand to gain from new transit traffic, while communities along the route worry about disruptions to roads, farmland and the environment.

Mirzoyan said unnamed governments in the Middle East have signaled interest in participating, and Pashinyan has singled out Kazakhstan as a potential partner. On April 9, the prime minister met with Kazakh Foreign Minister Yermek Kosherbayev in Yerevan. The two governments discussed joint work on rail and road projects, tourism ties and intelligence-sharing arrangements, and pledged follow-up talks on how Kazakhstan might route some exports through Armenian territory.

A Kazakh state outlet reported that Pashinyan urged Astana to consider Armenian transit corridors when planning its logistics chains. Armenian officials framed the outreach as a pragmatic way to spread costs and technical risk, and to anchor the route inside a broader regional trade network rather than as a single bilateral initiative.

U.S. diplomats have told Armenian counterparts they still regard the corridor as a priority despite the recent flare-up between Washington and Tehran. A U.S. State Department official, speaking to Armenian media, reassured Yerevan that Washington intends to keep working on the project. Local analysts, however, caution that much depends on whether investors see a stable security picture; Dr. Ani Harutyunyan, a transport economist in Yerevan, said outside capital will likely come in stages and that Armenia should press for clear safeguards and community compensation to avoid costly delays.