A deserted rail station on Trump’s route to peace where global interests collide

A abandoned station, a few rusty cars and a dozen meter track, the only thing that remains on a Soviet railway in Southern Armenia.

It may not seem possible, but this unattended track in the South Caucasus has become a symbol of peace by the US President on the Trump route for international peace and prosperity or on the Tripp path.

From a monument to a communist hero, pieces of a head were dispersed. A female sculpture is missing a arm.

A local journalist Marut Vanyan says, “We are on the Trump route, also known as Silk Road and Zangezur corridor,” a local journalist says. “But none of this has been American so far.”

This is one of Trump’s “unexplained wars, which he claimed to have ended in an agreement between Armenia and his enemy Azerbaijan for a long time.

The plan foresees US companies that move under a 99 -year agreement to improve the 43km (26 miles) route along the entire border with Iran in a corridor connecting Azerbaijan to Nakhchivan.

A railway, highway and pipelines were promised and Trump talked about companies that “spend a lot of money that will benefit our nations economically”.

On the ground, the scale of the difficulty is open. This transportation connection should be built from scratch, but political barriers are much more outweighed than economic issues.

Trump’s intervention can reshape the geopolitics of a region that Russia claims as a domain. Hardliners in Tehran are also worried and threatens to block the project.

Tripp proposal is the key to ending a conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan through Nagorno-Karabakh, a part of Azerbaijan, historically filled by the Armenians.

In 2023, Azerbaijan caught the controversial region again and almost all Armenian population escaped their homes. In this conflict, this kind was not the first thrown: in the 1990s, more than 500,000 Azerbaijan was displaced.

Vanyan was among those who fled their homes in 2023.

After escaping from the war zone, when he became a new hot dot between the two neighbors, he settled in Syunik, the southern state of Armenia.

Azerbaijan asked Armenia to give part of this region as a “corridor” outside Nakhchivan. The region is also known as Zangezur and the proposal was called “Zangezur Corridor”.

However, when Armenia rejected the demand, the clashes exploded at the border and many were afraid of a new war.

Then, in August 2025, Trump unexpectedly broke the dilemma. In the White House, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan hosted a solution designed to satisfy both sides.

A future Trump route promises both “unobstructed connection” for Azerbaijan and “full respect” for the sovereignty of Armenia. Rota will be managed by a private US company.

Both national leaders say that the Washington meeting reclaimed the peace in their regions and praised Trump’s intervention as a game exchanger.

However, the document they signed is weak in the details and never offers a schedule to build Tripp.

The US mediation was possible due to Russia’s weak position in the South Caucasus.

For years, the Kremlin has now tried to reopen the route bearing the name of an American president.

And although Russia’s proposal to protect the future path of the FSB border troops has been rejected, they patrol the tension of the Armenian – Iranian border elected for the Trump route.

While the BBC was pulled on the ground, a Russian FSB patrol vehicle was pulled in front of us. A young man in uniform asked us a drone with the border. We said we were not ours and the Russian patrol continued.

The Synic region of Armenia is also an important center for export and businessmen and trucks from Iran are a familiar view. Iranian construction companies are building a new bridge that will pass the future Tripp.

The Aras River, which separates the Islamic Republic and Armenia, is the line in which the route was adjusted.

Considering the recent participation of the US and Iranian companies in the Israeli-Iranian War, it is unclear how they will be in Armenia.

The senior advisor of Iran’s senior leader threatened Tripp to transform Tripp into a grave for “Donald Trump’s mercenaries”, but the Iranian government was more measured.

Iran said that both a friend and neighbor of the Caucasus countries, and Tehran, Armenia, is not a threat to the interests of the project.

There is also an increase in European presence in Southern Armenia.

France recently began to sell weapons to Yerevan and opened a consulate in Syunik. An EU monitoring task has been deployed to the region, and the future Trump route is seen as part of a “Middle Corridor” that connects by Central Asia and China by the EU with the EU.

Türkiye is also willing to benefit from an opening created by reducing the Russian influence.

Ankara met with Armenia to normalize relations and supported Tripp, which will create a direct connection from Türkiye to Azerbaijan.

The Armenian government seems calm about various opponents. He wants to be a “intersection of peace” in which all regional powers will cooperate.

Marut Vanyan says with an incredible smile, “Everything will be in the way and there will be billions of euros investments, new roads and trade with Iran, America, Europe, Turkey and Azerbaijan.” Says.

A official peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia has not yet been signed, but something is clear: Since the Washington meeting, no single shooting has been made to the Armenian-Azerbaijan border.

Trump’s intervention brought at least a temporary relief to those who lived for the fear of struggle for years.