“This matters to this administration. It matters to the world,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce stated during a press briefing in Washington on Tuesday.
She noted that while many world leaders have attempted to broker peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan – including Russian President Vladimir Putin and former U.S. President Joe Biden – “only President Trump was able to successfully bring these two countries together to agree to this historic peace.”
“So I think what the world knows is that he is committed to longstanding, durable peace between countries regardless of how long the conflicts have lasted or the hostility has lasted,” Bruce emphasized.
The State Department spokesperson also noted that “the declaration of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan has reaffirmed that President Trump is indeed the president of peace.”
Bruce added that during the Washington meetings, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev also signed bilateral economic agreements with the United States, “unlocking the great potential of the South Caucasus region in trade, transit, energy, infrastructure, and technology; and creating new opportunities for the American people and American businesses.”
Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov initialed the peace agreement between their two countries in the presence of their respective leaders and President Trump in Washington last week. Yerevan and Baku simultaneously published the 17-article document on Monday.
The leaders of the United States, Armenia, and Azerbaijan also signed a joint declaration that among other provisions establishes a U.S. role in overseeing a proposed transit route through Armenia, which Azerbaijan has demanded as a link to its Nakhichevan exclave.
Armenia and Azerbaijan reaffirmed the importance of the opening of communications between the two countries “for intra-state, bilateral, and international transportation for the promotion of peace, stability, and prosperity in the region and in its neighborhood on the basis of respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and jurisdiction of the States.”
The Washington accords received broad international support, including endorsements from Western and regional leaders. However, Iran and Russia expressed concern over the U.S. role in the proposed transit route through Armenia.
Armenia and Azerbaijan also jointly applied to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) for the dissolution of its Minsk Group – the only international mediating body, spearheaded by the United States, France, and Russia, that had for decades sought a negotiated settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.
Armenia’s current government recognized Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan after Baku regained control of the region as a result of a war in 2020 and a subsequent offensive in 2023 that led to the exodus of the local predominantly ethnic Armenian population.
The dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group was one of the two conditions set by Azerbaijan for concluding a peace agreement with Armenia. Baku continues to insist that Armenia must also amend the preamble of its Constitution, which it contends implies territorial claims against Azerbaijan.