The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a landmark peace agreement at the White House on August 8. Officials said the US-brokered deal will end decades of conflict and open a strategic transit corridor that is set to reshape trade flows in the South Caucasus.

The agreement, reached after months of US-led talks, commits the two countries to formally end hostilities and reopen transport links severed during decades of conflict over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. It includes the creation of a major transit route through southern Armenia linking Azerbaijan to its Nakhchivan exclave bordering Turkey, a project named the “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity” (TRIPP).

“This is a great honour for me,” US President Donald Trump said at the signing ceremony, flanked by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. “I didn’t ask for this,” he added, according to a White House statement, saying that the name of the route was proposed by the Armenian side.

Aliyev and Pashinyan shook hands in the White House’s East Room as Trump reached over to clasp both their hands, in a symbolic gesture intended to draw a line under the lengthy conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives since the early 1990s.

“For more than 35 years, Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought a bitter conflict that resulted in tremendous suffering for both nations… With this accord, we’ve finally succeeded in making peace,” Trump said.

The leaders of both Azerbaijan and Armenia were effusive in their thanks to the US president. 

“It’s a day which will be remembered by the people of Azerbaijan with a feeling of pride and gratitude to President Trump… Within several months, he managed to put an end to conflicts in Asia, in Africa, and now in South Caucasus — what we could not achieve for more than 30 years,” said Aliyev, as quoted in a White House statement.

“We will turn the page of standoff, confrontation, and bloodshed, and provide a bright and safe future for our children.” 

“Today, we have reached a significant milestone in Armenia-Azerbaijan relations,” said Pashinyan, according to the Armenian Prime Minister’s Office. “We are laying the groundwork for a better history than the one we have had in the past. This groundbreaking progress simply would not have been possible without President Trump's personal involvement and his unwavering commitment to peace in our region.” 

Alongside the peace declaration, both Yerevan and Baku signed separate agreements with Washington to deepen cooperation in energy, technology, and trade, though the White House did not immediately disclose details.

According to the joint declaration, the TRIPP project will guarantee “unhindered connectivity” between Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan, while providing “mutual benefits for the Republic of Armenia in terms of international and domestic connectivity”. There must now be an excellent prospect of Azerbaijan's close ally Turkey fully reopening its border to Armenia.

The agreement comes almost two years after Azerbaijan retook full control of Nagorno-Karabakh in a 2023 offensive that prompted the exodus of more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians from the enclave.

Azerbaijan's long-standing demand for a land corridor to Nakhchivan – known in Baku as the Zangezur corridor – had been a key sticking point in talks. Armenia had resisted the proposal, citing sovereignty concerns.

The TRIPP is essentially the same route, but US officials said the initiative would be implemented in coordination with Armenia and “mutually agreed third parties”.

The TRIPP corridor is expected to boost trade along the “Middle Corridor” route linking China and Europe via Central Asia, the Caspian Sea, and Turkey, offering an alternative to Russian and Iranian transit networks.

Both Azerbaijan and Turkey are expected to benefit from faster cargo routes, while Armenia could gain new economic opportunities from participation in a major international transit system.

However, it is expected to erode Iran and Russia’s influence in the region. The new route and increased US engagement in the region face strong opposition from Iran. Tehran has repeatedly warned against any new transit arrangements that could marginalise it from regional trade flows.

Russia, historically a security guarantor in the South Caucasus, has seen its role diminish amid strained relations with both Yerevan and Baku. Armenia has moved closer to the European Union after the Russia-led CSTO security alliance failed to intervene during Azerbaijani incursions, while Azerbaijan’s ties with Moscow have been tested by recent diplomatic incidents.