While some of President Donald Trump‘s largest peace goals remain elusive, he celebrated a successful milestone Friday afternoon as Armenia and Azerbaijan signed an agreement to end their decadeslong conflict.
“For more than 35 years, Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought a bitter conflict that resulted in tremendous suffering for both nations,” Trump said in a State Dining Room meeting with leaders from both countries. “They suffered gravely for so many years.”
Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev and Armenia Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan joined Trump for the signing of the agreement, which includes plans for a new trade route through both countries dubbed the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity.
“We are writing a new history in a bilateral, interstate relationship between the United States and Azerbaijan,” Aliyev said during the meeting. “We are starting the path toward strategic partnership.”
“This breakthrough would be simply not have been possible without President Trump’s personal engagement and his resolute commitment to peace in our region,” Pashinyan added.
The three men later staged a memorable three-way handshake.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been in conflict for decades, and Trump hopes to continue their peace through increased economic cooperation, both with each other and the West. Transportation corridors through both countries have been closed due to the conflict since the Soviet Union collapsed, and reopening them could provide better opportunities to circumvent trading with Russia and Iran, Trump administration officials told reporters on a Friday morning call.
“What this will do for American businesses, and frankly, for energy resources across Europe, will be enormously powerful,” an administration official said earlier in the day. “The losers here are China, Russia, and Iran. The winners here are the West.”
With the agreement, Armenia will give the United States a 99-year lease on TRIPP, which includes the Zangezur Corridor, located between mainland Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan exclave, according to Politico.
The U.S. will then allow private corporations to sublease the land to develop the 27-mile piece of property for rail, oil and gas, and fiber optic lines.
While Trump has yet to broker a peace deal to end the Russian invasion of Ukraine or the conflict between Israel and Gaza, he has claimed several lower-profile victories, including peace deals between India and Pakistan, Thailand and Cambodia, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and now Armenia and Azerbaijan.
“We’ve been working on a lot of these deals. We’ve closed every single one of them all throughout the world. And that’s the last of them,” Trump said about the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
The president also conceded “there’ll be some swapping of territories,” in a blow to Ukraine’s sovereignty. Trump said he will soon announce a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I think the location will be a very popular one for a lot of reasons, but we’ll be announcing that a little bit later,” Trump said.
The peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan is a sign that the U.S. is hoping to seize upon Russia’s declining influence in the South Caucasus region. It’s also another sign of Trump’s public wishes to secure a Nobel Peace Prize before the end of his second administration.
“I’m of a certain persuasion, no matter what I do, they won’t give it, and I’m not politicking for it,” Trump said of the prize committee. “But it would be a great honor, certainly.”
NEW OPM DIRECTOR TAKES GENTLER APPROACH TO STREAMLINING THE FEDERAL BUREAUCRACY
The two visiting leaders praised Trump’s bid for the prize, with Aliyev proposing a joint request from Armenia and Azerbaijan for Trump to be nominated.
“I think President Trump … deserved to have Nobel Peace Prize,” Pashinyan said. “We will defend that and … we will promote for that.”