After decades of clashes, Trump secures Armenia–Azerbaijan peace deal

By Zach Jewell | Daily Wire

"… today's great achievement is yet another testimony to your global leadership and your legacy as a statesman and a peacemaker on the world stage."

President Donald Trump oversaw the signing of a peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan on Friday, securing a deal that was unsuccessfully sought by the European Union, Russia, and the Biden administration.

Trump met with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev privately in the Oval Office before they all appeared for a press conference and signed the peace declaration.

“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 promises peace between majority-Christian Armenia and majority-Muslim Azerbaijan after the two nations have fought since the early 1990s. Under the deal, Armenia will grant the United States the rights to develop a transit corridor through the South Caucasus that will be named after President Trump. The trade corridor would be in a strategic location as the South Caucasus acts as the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

Trump said the United States is also signing a bilateral agreement with both Armenia and Azerbaijan “to expand cooperation in energy, trade, and technology, including AI.” The president also ended U.S. restrictions on foreign aid and defense cooperation with Azerbaijan that had been in place since 1992.

President Aliyev said that the deal means that Azerbaijan is “writing a new history in the bilateral and interstate relationship” with the United States.

“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, adding, “President Trump brings peace to the Southern Caucasus, and we’re grateful for that.”

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