YEREVAN — Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has responded to a statement by Armenia’s second president, Robert Kocharyan, who claimed that the United States has no economic interest in the TRIPP project. During a press conference held on January 29, Kocharyan said that the U.S. interest in TRIPP is not economic, but rather aimed at exerting control over Iran. He also argued that claims of hundreds of millions or billions of dollars in investments under TRIPP do not reflect reality. Speaking to reporters after a government session, Prime Minister Pashinyan emphasized that TRIPP is, first and foremost, an investment and economic project. Addressing Kocharyan’s assertion that the United States has no economic interest in TRIPP, the prime minister added:“How can a country like the United States, which is entirely built on economic logic, have no economic interest?