Room: Cannon 130
Date: Wednesday, April 15th
Time: 1:00PM – 2:00PM
In August 2025, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev participated in a trilateral meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House, where they initialed a draft peace agreement.
While hailed as a breakthrough in a fraught peace process, the draft agreement raised serious concerns among experts for neglecting outstanding human rights and security issues that continue to undermine efforts to achieve a just, durable and dignified peace in the region. Specifically, the draft agreement includes no provision to guarantee the release of Armenian prisoners of war; to ensure the removal of Azerbaijan forces from sovereign Armenian territory; to protect at-risk Armenian cultural heritage sites in Nagorno-Karabakh from further destruction; and to recognize the fundamental right of forcibly displaced Armenians to return to their homes in safety and security.
In addition to the agreement’s failure to address these critical humanitarian issues, it would also require Armenia to withdraw its legal complaints against Azerbaijan from international courts, and to remove third-party ceasefire monitors from the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan has also sought to impose extraneous demands on Armenia, outside of the context of the agreement – refusing to ratify the peace agreement unless Armenia amends its constitution to expunge any reference to the indigenous Armenian population of Artsakh.
Also announced during the White House summit last August was the “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity” – or, TRIPP. The TRIPP proposal would involve Armenia granting a U.S.-operated consortium exclusive development and management rights over a multi-modal transport corridor connecting Azerbaijan proper to its exclave Nakhichevan, and onwards to neighbouring Turkey. Under the agreement, the U.S. would hold a 74% stake in the consortium, with Armenia retaining a 26% stake, as part of a 49-year lease agreement, which could be extended up to 99 years. The TRIPP proposal has raised serious concerns for Armenia's sovereignty and border security, and fails to address the pressing security threats that Armenia faces amid the ongoing occupation of sovereign Armenian territory by Azerbaijani forces.
This panel discussion will offer an opportunity for staff to hear directly from subject matter experts about the ongoing humanitarian and security issues that risk undermining the peace process, Azerbaijan’s continued efforts to delay and derail peace talks, and the role of Congress in supporting the implementation of a dignified and durable peace predicated on justice, accountability and a respect for fundamental human rights.
Panelists:
Karnig Kerkonian: Karnig Kerkonian is an international lawyer and founding partner of Kerkonian Dajani LLP, where he leads the firm’s international and federal practice groups. His work focuses on complex litigation, Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act matters, commercial sanctions regimes, international business transactions, and disputes involving multinational entities and foreign states. Mr. Kerkonian holds an A.B. magna cum laude in Government from Harvard University, a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School where he served on the Law Review, and a Diploma in Public International Law from Cambridge University. He previously practiced federal litigation and appeals at Mayer Brown LLP before founding his firm in 2003. He also teaches public international law as an adjunct professor at Artsakh State University and regularly presents on international law and international courts.
Dr. Robert Krikorian: Dr. Robert Krikorian recently retired from the Department of State after more than two decades as an intelligence analyst and senior adviser. His positions in State’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research included Director of Analytic Standards and Integration, Analytic Ombudsman, Director of Analytic Support and Production, and Senior Advisor for Strategic Intelligence. He began his State Department career as a diplomatic historian, focusing on the practical and policy-relevant applications of historical knowledge. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree from Clark University, a Master’s Degree from The George Washington University and received his PhD in History and Eurasian Studies from Harvard University, where he also taught courses on Russian and Middle Eastern History. In addition, he has taught at the Elliott School of International Affairs at The George Washington University and has lectured to hundreds of diplomats at the State Department Foreign Service Institute as part of their training for postings in the South Caucasus and elsewhere. Dr. Krikorian has written and presented extensively on the modern history and politics of Armenia and Eurasia.
