WASHINGTON: Armenia and Azerbaijan have committed to a lasting peace after decades of conflict, US President Donald Trump announced after the South Caucasus rivals signed a deal welcomed on Saturday by Iran, Pakistan, and Western nations.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev said Trump’s mediation should earn him a Nobel Peace Prize — an award the US leader has been vocal about seeking.
The two countries “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 at a White House signing event on Friday.
The two leaders would have a “great relationship,” Trump said.
“But if there’s conflict… they’re going to call me and we’re going to get it straightened out,” he said.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have feuded for decades over their border and the status of ethnic enclaves within each other’s territories.
They went to war twice over the Karabakh region, which Azerbaijan recaptured from Armenian forces in a lightning 2023 offensive.
‘Historic signature’
The Azerbaijan and Armenian leaders shook hands under the satisfied gaze of Trump before all three signed a document the White House called a “joint declaration.”
Aliyev hailed the “historic signature” between two “countries which were at war for more than three decades.”
“We are today establishing peace in the Caucasus,” he said.
Aliyev offered to send a joint appeal, along with Pashinyan, to the Nobel committee recommending Trump receive the Peace Prize.
“Who, if not President Trump, deserves a Nobel Peace Prize?” he said.
Aliyev also thanked Trump for lifting restrictions on US military cooperation with Azerbaijan, which was announced on Friday.
Pashinyan said the “initialing of (the) peace agreement will pave the way to end decades of conflict between our countries and open a new era.”
The Armenian leader said the “breakthrough” would not have been possible without “peacemaker” Trump.
“Today, we can say that peace has been achieved,” Pashinyan told a news conference after signing the deal.
The agreement includes establishing a transit corridor passing through Armenia to connect Azerbaijan to its exclave of Nakhchivan, a longstanding demand of Baku, according to AFP.
The United States will have development rights for the corridor — dubbed the “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity” — in the strategic and resource-rich region, AFP reported.
Iran, which has long opposed the corridor over fears it would cut the country off from the Caucasus, welcomed the deal on Saturday.
However, it also expressed “concern over the negative consequences of any foreign intervention in any way and form, especially in the vicinity of common borders.”
The foreign ministry in Turkey, a longtime supporter of Azerbaijan, hailed the “progress achieved towards establishing a lasting peace”.
In a post on his X handle, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif welcomed the peace agreement.
PM Sharif said this landmark development marks the dawn of a new era of peace, stability, and cooperation in the South Caucasus, a region that has endured decades of conflict and human suffering.
Pakistan welcomes the historic peace agreement signed between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia at the White House Summit under the auspices of U.S. President Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
This landmark development marks the dawn of a new era of peace,…
— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) August 9, 2025
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy congratulated the two countries “on the bold steps taken in Washington.”
European Union chiefs said it would pave the way to “lasting, sustainable peace for both countries and across the entire region.”
