WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will convene a peace summit at the White House on Friday with the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan that is meant to end decades of conflict and reopen key transportation routes in the region.
The two countries in the South Caucasus region will sign an agreement that will create a major transit corridor that will be named the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, the White House said. That route will connect mainland Azerbaijan and its autonomous Nakhchivan region, a demand of the capital, Baku, that had held up peace talks between the two nations.
“The roadmap they are agreeing to will build a cooperative future that benefits both countries, their region of the South Caucasus and beyond,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said Friday. She added that the new transit corridor will “allow unimpeded connectivity between the two countries while respecting Armenia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and its people.”
Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan are separated by a 32-kilometer (20-mile) patch of Armenia’s territory.
Separate from the joint agreement, both Armenia and Azerbaijan will sign deals with the United States meant to bolster cooperation in energy, technology and the economy, the White House said.
Trump previewed much of Friday’s plan in a social media post Thursday evening, saying the two leaders would participate in a peace ceremony and sign economic agreements with the U.S. that would “fully unlock the potential of the South Caucasus Region.”
“Many Leaders have tried to end the War, with no success, until now, thanks to ‘TRUMP,’” Trump said on his Truth Social site.
The Republican president will first meet with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and then will host Azerbaijan’s president, Ilham Aliyev. Finally, all three leaders will participate in a joint signing ceremony in the State Dining Room.
The two nations have been locked in conflict for nearly four decades as they fought for control of the Karabakh region, known internationally as Nagorno-Karabakh.
The area was largely populated by Armenians during the Soviet era but is located within Azerbaijan. The two nations battled for control of the region through multiple violent clashes that left tens of thousands of people dead over the decades, all while international mediation efforts failed.
Most recently, Azerbaijan reclaimed all of Karabakh in 2023 and had been in talks with Armenia to normalize ties.
The signing of a deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan also marks a geopolitical blow to their former imperial master, Russia. Throughout the nearly four-decade conflict, Moscow played mediator to expand its clout in the strategic South Caucasus region, but its influence waned quickly after it launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Moscow stood back when Azerbaijan reclaimed control of the Karabakh region in a blitz offensive in September 2023, angering Armenia, which has moved to shed Russian influence and turn westward. Azerbaijan, emboldened by its victory in Karabakh, also has become increasingly defiant in relations with Moscow.
