In a momentous signing ceremony on Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a U.S.-brokered peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia at the White House that aims to end decades of conflict and bolster bilateral economic ties.
Trump declared, “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.”
This ends a decades-long conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous region that broke away from Azerbaijan in the late 1980s with Armenian backing and was fully reclaimed by Azerbaijan in 2023, prompting almost all of its 100,000 ethnic Armenian residents to flee to Armenia.
Trump confirmed that both nations have committed to cease hostilities, open diplomatic relations, and respect one another’s territorial integrity, laying the groundwork for durable peace.
A centerpiece of the agreement is the exclusive U.S. development rights to a strategic transit corridor through the South Caucasus, dubbed the “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity,” which promises to enhance energy and resource exports.
Trump also announced separate bilateral deals with Azerbaijan and Armenia covering expanded cooperation in energy, trade, and artificial intelligence, in addition to lifting restrictions on U.S.–Azerbaijan defense collaboration.
These agreements signal deeper U.S. engagement and influence in the energy-rich South Caucasus region crisscrossed by pipelines and bordering Russia, Europe, Turkey, and Iran.
Trump framed the deal as a major win for his administration’s global peace ambitions and drew comparisons to other high-profile agreements he has brokered, though he acknowledged setbacks in resolving conflicts such as Russia’s war in Ukraine and Israel-Hamas fighting.
Both Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan praised Trump’s role and pledged to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize, with Aliyev asking, “So who if not President Trump deserves the Nobel Peace Prize?”
