Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a US-brokered peace agreement on Friday (Aug 8) during a meeting with President Donald Trump, pledging to boost economic ties after decades of conflict.

The deal between the South Caucasus rivals, if it holds, would be a major accomplishment for the Trump administration and could unsettle Moscow, which considers the region part of its sphere of influence.

“It’s a long time – 35 years – they fought and now they’re friends, and they’re going to be friends for a long time,” Trump said at a White House signing ceremony alongside Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

DECADES OF HOSTILITY

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been at odds since the late 1980s when Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous Azerbaijani region with a majority ethnic Armenian population, broke away with support from Armenia.

Azerbaijan regained full control of the territory in 2023, prompting almost all of its 100,000 ethnic Armenian residents to flee to Armenia.

Trump said the countries had committed to ending hostilities, opening diplomatic relations and recognising each other’s territorial integrity.

STRATEGIC TRANSIT CORRIDOR

The agreement grants the US exclusive development rights to a strategic transit corridor through the South Caucasus. The White House said it would facilitate greater exports of energy and other resources.

Trump said the US also signed separate agreements with each country to expand cooperation on energy, trade and technology, including artificial intelligence. Restrictions on defence cooperation between Azerbaijan and the US have been lifted.

Aliyev and Pashinyan praised Trump’s role in ending the conflict, with both leaders saying they would nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize.

REGIONAL IMPACT

US officials said the agreement marked the first resolution of a “frozen conflict” near Russia’s borders since the Cold War and could reshape the South Caucasus, an energy-producing region bordering Russia, Europe, Turkey and Iran.

The so-called Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity has already attracted interest from nine companies, including three from the US, an administration official said. Armenia plans to grant the US long-term exclusive rights to the corridor.

The White House said the deal was finalised after repeated visits to the region and would lay the groundwork for full normalisation of ties between the two countries.

RIGHTS CONCERNS

Daphne Panayotatos, of the Washington-based rights group Freedom Now, urged the US to use the meeting with Aliyev to press for the release of about 375 political prisoners in Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan, which hosted the United Nations climate summit last November, has rejected Western criticism of its human rights record, calling it unacceptable interference

Source: Reuters
--Agencies