Armenia, Azerbaijan Sign Landmark US-Brokered Peace Deal, Open ‘Trump Route’

The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan shook hands at the White House on Friday before signing a historic agreement aimed at ending decades of conflict. US President Donald Trump stood between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, clasping their joined hands in a symbolic gesture.

The pact, brokered by Washington, reopens key transport links and creates a new transit corridor — to be named the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity — connecting Azerbaijan to its Nakhchivan exclave through Armenian territory. The corridor will eventually include a railway, energy pipelines, and fiber-optic lines.

Calling the naming “a great honor” he did not request, Trump credited the breakthrough to both sides’ willingness to compromise. Pashinyan hailed the deal as a “significant milestone,” while Aliyev said, “President Trump in six months did a miracle.”

The agreement resolves Azerbaijan’s long-standing demand for a direct link to Nakhchivan, bypassing Georgia and Iran, while offering Armenia closer economic and security ties with the United States. For Baku, the route also provides a more direct path to Türkiye and Europe.

The deal is also a strategic win for Washington, marking a further erosion of Russia’s influence in the South Caucasus. Once the region’s dominant mediator, Moscow’s clout diminished rapidly after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Friday’s signing adds to a string of Trump-brokered agreements this year, including peace initiatives between Congo and Rwanda, and a ceasefire between India and Pakistan. While efforts in Gaza and Ukraine have stalled, several foreign leaders have openly backed Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize.

The Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, rooted in the dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh, has claimed tens of thousands of lives since the Soviet collapse. Azerbaijan regained control of the territory in 2023, but talks stalled over the Nakhchivan corridor. US officials say Armenia’s pivot away from Russia — and the promise of expanded US ties — helped break the deadlock.

Negotiations over the Trump Route’s development will begin next week, with at least nine potential investors already expressing interest, according to US officials. Separate US-Armenia and US-Azerbaijan agreements signed Friday will deepen cooperation in energy, technology, and the economy.