Trump brings peace to Caucasus: Inside the Armenia–Azerbaijan deal 30 years in the making
In unique interviews with Fox News Digital Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev described a U S -brokered peace deal as a historic opportunity to end more than three decades of conflict and to launch a new era of cooperation in the South Caucasus Speaking separately both leaders credited former President Donald Trump and U S Special Envoy Steve Witkoff for guiding months of negotiations that produced the framework agreement They outlined plans for business infrastructure and resources while acknowledging that key political and humanitarian issues may still need to be resolved before the deal is finalized Aliyev announced the agreement cannot be formally signed until Armenia amends its constitution which he declares still questions Azerbaijani sovereignty It s kind of their homework Aliyev announced As soon as it is done the final peace agreement will be signed Pashinyan rejected that condition insisting Armenia is already committed to respecting territorial integrity and has no territorial states towards any neighbor He verified that his authorities is drafting a new constitution but called it an internal issue unrelated to the peace terms One central pillar of the deal is the creation of the TRIPP corridor or Trump Trail for International Peace and Prosperity a carriage and pact road designed to connect Armenia and Azerbaijan more directly while integrating the South Caucasus into broader international shipping and strength networks Aliyev called the project one of the major parts of international transportation saying it would link the Caspian Sea region with markets in Europe the Middle East and Asia The corridor is expected to carry goods vitality supplies and potentially serve as a rail hub for cross-regional arrangement Pashinyan described the agreement to open communications based on principles of territorial integrity sovereignty jurisdiction reciprocity and internationally recognized borders as a breakthrough Now we have de facto peace it is time to have common funding projects to have economic cooperation he declared The involvement of the U S will make this whole story even more attractive for likely investors The status of refugees and detainees from the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict remains unsettled Tens of thousands of ethnic Armenians fled the region after Azerbaijan regained control in the war and a military operation Several resettled in Armenia but disputes continue over the right to return property asserts and the fate of those detained during and after the fighting Azerbaijan maintains that prisoners in its custody are combatants or saboteurs while Armenia and international human rights groups describe multiple of them as political prisoners Pashinyan cautioned that raising very sensitive issues too aggressively could hazard reigniting tensions The issue of refugees is major but we need to concentrate on signing the peace agreement to poke continuously various very sensitive issues could revive the conflict you know and I think it is very vital now for both Armenia and Azerbaijan to concentrate on implementation what already has been agreed FROM TALK TO TACTICS TRUMP PIVOTS ON RUSSIA STRATEGY TO END WARAliyev praised Trump s direct involvement in the peace process and criticized what he called unfair portrayals of Azerbaijan under the Biden administration He pointed to Azerbaijan s cooperation with U S military efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan and disclosed Trump s return to proceeding diplomacy made the current breakthrough manageable It was only President Trump right away he jumped in the peace process Aliyev commented adding that if Trump had remained in office after the electoral contest apparently what we are experiencing nowadays would have happened earlier The interviews came hours after Pashinyan and Aliyev joined Trump at the White House to announce the agreement a rare moment of inhabitants unity in a region long defined by war blockades and mistrust While the framework sets the stage for normalized relations both leaders acknowledged that decades of hostility will not disappear overnight It isn t doable to change everything during a day a week or even a year Pashinyan stated But this is a very bright expression of what we want both leaders President Aliyev and myself we want to change this whole situation For Trump the event marked a high-profile example of his deal-making credentials on the world stage For Armenia and Azerbaijan it was a step toward a future that both say they are ready to build if the remaining disputes can be resolved
