Armenia ready to place part of territory under US control – Spanish media

The plan reportedly involves a private contractor protecting a strategic route with Azerbaijan.

Armenia has quietly agreed to hand over a strategic part of its territory to the US, the Spanish news outlet Periodista Digital has claimed.

The small, landlocked country in the South Caucasus has a longstanding dispute with neighboring, oil-rich Azerbaijan, which in 2023 regained full control over the breakaway region of Karabakh.

On Tuesday, the Spanish publication reported having obtained a copy of a memorandum from unnamed members of the Armenian diaspora in France, outlining the creation of a 42-kilometer (27-mile) corridor through southern Armenia, connecting Azerbaijan with its exclave of Nakhchivan.

The area would reportedly be managed by a US company and protected by around 1,000 armed private contractors, who would be authorized to use force to “preserve the integrity of the corridor.” The arrangement is said to be designed to last 99 years. According to the outlet, the text of the memorandum has been approved by the US, Armenia, and Azerbaijan.

Periodista Digital described the document as “a catastrophe” for Armenia, claiming it would benefit the US, as well as Armenia’s regional rivals Azerbaijan and Türkiye, and strain Yerevan’s relations with France.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Armenian government denied the report, calling it “an element of hybrid warfare and manipulative propaganda,” and dismissing Periodista Digital as a “dubious source.” The US and Azerbaijan have not commented on the matter.

Yerevan and Baku have been engaged in talks to normalize relations, with Azerbaijan demanding Armenia establish a transport corridor to Nakhchivan. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan rejected the proposal earlier this month, stating that the dispute must be resolved based on mutual respect for territorial integrity and equality.