President Donald Trump secured a major peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan on Friday, ending decades of conflict that previous efforts by the European Union, Russia, and the Biden administration failed to resolve.
Trump met privately with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in the Oval Office before they signed the peace declaration at a joint press conference.
“The countries of Armenia and Azerbaijan are committing to stop all fighting forever, open up commerce, travel, and diplomatic relations, and respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Trump said.
The deal marks a significant breakthrough between majority-Christian Armenia and majority-Muslim Azerbaijan, who have fought since the early 1990s over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Under the agreement, Armenia will grant the United States rights to develop a transit corridor through the South Caucasus. The corridor, which will bear President Trump’s name, holds strategic importance as the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
Trump added that the U.S. will sign bilateral agreements with both countries to expand cooperation in energy, trade, and technology, including artificial intelligence.
The president also lifted U.S. restrictions on foreign aid and defense cooperation with Azerbaijan that have been in place since 1992, as the Daily Wire reported.
President Aliyev described the deal as a chance for Azerbaijan to “write a new history in the bilateral and interstate relationship” with the U.S. “To be in a strategic partnership with the greatest country in the world is a great opportunity and also a very big responsibility,” he said. Aliyev thanked Trump for bringing peace to the Southern Caucasus.
Prime Minister Pashinyan said the peace deal “will pave the way to ending decades of conflict between our countries and open a new era based on the full respect of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of each other.” He called the agreement “yet another testimony to your global leadership and your legacy as a statesman and a peacemaker on the world stage.”
This latest achievement adds to Trump’s growing record of foreign policy successes. Recently, Trump played a key role in peace agreements between Pakistan and India, Cambodia and Thailand, and a ceasefire between Israel and Iran. Trump is also working toward a deal to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.
The Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict centers on Nagorno-Karabakh, a 1,700-square-mile mountainous region inhabited by Armenians for thousands of years but recognized internationally as part of Azerbaijan. In recent years, tensions escalated when Azerbaijan imposed a military blockade on the region, cutting off food, electricity, and water. In September 2023, Azerbaijan launched a military offensive that forced many Armenians to flee amid accusations of ethnic cleansing.
Azerbaijan has claimed that Armenia illegally stationed over 10,000 troops in Nagorno-Karabakh and defended its actions as anti-terrorist measures.
The Armenian people are the oldest Christian nation in the world and have faced historical persecution, including the Armenian genocide during World War I, when 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Muslim Turks. Turkey and Azerbaijan continue to deny the genocide took place.
