Historic: Armenia and Azerbaijan Ink Peace Deal Backed by United States

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a peace treaty at the White House on Friday in the presence of US President Donald Trump.

After the signing, Trump said he believed the agreement will start a “great relationship” between Armenia and Azerbaijan and bring in peace and economic opportunity for the region. “I want to congratulate these two great people, Prime Minister Pashinyan and President Aliyev, for coming to Washington to sign this momentous joint declaration,” he said.

The Peace Deal Will Put an End to Tensions Between Azerbaijan and Armenia

After the deal, both countries will permanently end hostilities, establish commerce, travel, and diplomatic ties, and respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. It also establishes a transportation corridor linking the two nations — a route that has been a point of contention since the collapse of the Soviet Union more than three decades ago. The corridor will be called the “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity” and will be developed exclusively by U.S. companies.

“We anticipate significant infrastructure development by American companies. They’re very anxious to go into these two countries,” Trump said. The U.S. also signed separate bilateral agreements with Armenia and Azerbaijan to expand cooperation in energy, trade, and technology, including artificial intelligence. The deals lift long-standing restrictions on U.S. security coordination with Azerbaijan, first imposed in 1992.

Sections of Armenians Unhappy with Peace with Azerbaijan

“I’m very grateful to the president that he lifted the restrictions,” Aliyev said.

While the agreement has been hailed by Trump as a diplomatic breakthrough, it is viewed with bitterness by many Armenians. Mass displacement of Armenian population occurred when in 2023, Azerbaijan’s military launched an attack to regain control of Nagorno-Karabakh. It is a area inside the borders of Azerbaijan but populated by Armenians.

Rights groups accuse Azerbaijan of using a siege to restrict food supplies during the campaign, calling it a tactic of war. The images of fleeing Armenians carrying their possessions stirred painful memories of the Armenian Genocide from 1915 to 1923.

Azerbaijan denies committing abuses, insisting the operation was a lawful effort to restore order and claiming Armenians could have remained in their homes under Azerbaijani rule.

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