Russia Warns Over US Military Footprint Near Iran Border via Armenia Corridor

Alexei Shevtsov, deputy secretary of Russia's Security Council, warned about the project known as the Trump Route in Armenia during a speech at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok. According to Ecoiran, citing ISNA, he claimed the project could pave the way for a US military, private military contractor and intelligence infrastructure presence near Iran's border. The corridor project was announced after Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met with US President Donald Trump in Washington on August 8, 2025. It is intended to connect Azerbaijan to its Nakhchivan exclave through Armenian territory. Shevtsov said US representatives recently entered Armenia's southern Syunik region to review the project's implementation, a development he said has heightened Moscow's concern over growing Western influence in the South Caucasus.