WASHINGTON — The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan shook palms Friday at a White Home peace summit earlier than signing an settlement aimed toward ending many years of battle.
President Donald Trump was within the center as Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan flanked him on both aspect. As the 2 prolonged their arms in entrance of Trump to shake palms, the U.S. chief reached up and clasped his palms round theirs.
The 2 international locations within the South Caucasus signed agreements with one another and the U.S. that may reopen key transportation routes whereas permitting the U.S. to grab on Russia’s declining affect within the area. The deal consists of an settlement that may create a significant transit hall to be named the Trump Route for Worldwide Peace and Prosperity, the White Home mentioned.
Trump mentioned on the White Home on Friday that naming the route after him was “an awesome honor for me” however “I didn’t ask for this.” A senior administration official, on a name earlier than the occasion with reporters, mentioned it was the Armenians who prompt the identify.
Trump has sought to be often called a peacemaker and made no secret of the truth that he covets a Nobel Peace Prize. Friday’s signing provides to a sequence of peace and financial agreements brokered by the U.S. this yr.
Each leaders mentioned the breakthrough was made potential by Trump and his staff.
“We’re laying a basis to jot down a greater story than the one we had prior to now,” Pashinyan mentioned, calling the settlement a “important milestone.”
“President Trump in six months did a miracle,” Aliyev mentioned.
Trump remarked on how lengthy the battle went on between the 2 international locations. “Thirty-five years they fought, and now they’re mates they usually’re going to be mates a very long time,” he mentioned.
That route will join Azerbaijan and its autonomous Nakhchivan exclave, that are separated by a 32-kilometer-wide (20-mile-wide) patch of Armenian territory. The demand from Azerbaijan had held up peace talks prior to now.
For Azerbaijan, a significant producer of oil and gasoline, the route additionally gives a extra direct hyperlink to Turkey and onward to Europe.
Trump indicated he’d like to go to the route, saying, “We’re going to need to recover from there.”
Requested how he feels about lasting peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Trump mentioned “very assured.”
Aliyev and Pashinyan on Friday joined a rising record of overseas leaders and different officers who’ve mentioned Trump ought to obtain the Nobel Peace Prize for his function in serving to ease long-running conflicts throughout the globe.
The peace deal between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda helped finish the decades-long battle in japanese Congo, and the U.S. mediated a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, whereas Trump intervened in clashes between Cambodia and Thailand by threatening to withhold commerce agreements with each international locations if their combating continued. But peace offers in Gaza and Ukraine have been elusive.
US takes benefit of Russia’s waning affect
The signing of a deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan, each former Soviet republics, additionally strikes a geopolitical blow to their former imperial grasp, Russia. All through the almost four-decade battle, Moscow performed mediator to increase its clout within the strategic South Caucasus area, however its affect waned shortly after it launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The Trump-brokered deal would permit the U.S. to deepen its attain within the area as Moscow retreats, senior U.S. administration officers mentioned.
The Trump administration started partaking with Armenia and Azerbaijan in earnest earlier this yr, when Trump’s key diplomatic envoy, Steve Witkoff, met with Aliyev in Baku and began to debate what a senior administration official known as a “regional reset.”
Negotiations over who will develop the Trump Route — which is able to finally embrace a rail line, oil and gasoline pipelines, and fiber optic traces — will seemingly start subsequent week, and a minimum of 9 builders have expressed curiosity already, in line with the senior administration official, who briefed reporters on situation of anonymity.
Separate from the joint settlement, each Armenia and Azerbaijan signed offers with america meant to bolster cooperation in vitality, know-how and the financial system, the White Home mentioned.
Trump previewed a lot of Friday’s plan in a social media submit Thursday night, through which he mentioned the agreements would “totally unlock the potential” of the South Caucasus area.
“Many Leaders have tried to finish the Struggle, with no success, till now, due to ‘TRUMP,’” Trump mentioned on his Reality Social web site.
The Armenia-Azerbaijan battle has lasted for many years
The 2 nations had been locked in battle for almost 4 many years as they fought for management of the Karabakh area, identified internationally as Nagorno-Karabakh.
The realm was largely populated by Armenians throughout the Soviet period however is positioned inside Azerbaijan. The 2 nations battled for management of the area by means of a number of violent clashes that left tens of hundreds of individuals useless over the many years, all whereas worldwide mediation efforts failed.
Most lately, Azerbaijan reclaimed all of Karabakh in 2023 and had been in talks with Armenia to normalize ties. Azerbaijan’s insistence on a land bridge to Nakhchivan had been a significant sticking level, as a result of whereas Azerbaijan didn’t belief Armenia to regulate the so-called Zangezur hall, Armenia resisted management by a 3rd occasion as a result of it considered it as a breach of sovereignty.
However the prospect of nearer ties with america, in addition to having the ability to transfer out and in of the landlocked nation extra freely with out having to entry Georgia or Iran, helped entice Armenia on the broader settlement, in line with U.S. officers.
In the meantime, Russia stood again when Azerbaijan reclaimed management of Karabakh within the September 2023 offensive, angering Armenia, which has moved to shed Russian affect and switch westward. Azerbaijan, emboldened by its victory in Karabakh, additionally has change into more and more defiant in its relations with Moscow.
