On Friday, Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a joint declaration at the White House, bringing the conflict closer to resolution and giving President Trump another chance to be a peacemaker in this process. Additionally, the leaders of the two countries announced that they would support Trump in his nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize, writes The New York Times.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that he would grant the United States exclusive rights to develop a transit corridor through its territory, connecting Azerbaijan with Nakhchivan, where Azerbaijan's only border with Turkey is located, which will be named the «Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity».
Pashinyan called the joint declaration a «fateful outcome», heralding a new chapter of «peace, prosperity, security, and economic cooperation in the South Caucasus».
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev also thanked Trump for bringing the end of the decades-long conflict with Armenia closer. «If it weren't for President Trump and his team, Armenia and Azerbaijan might have found themselves in this endless negotiation process again today», he said.
Although the joint declaration is not a peace agreement, it represents the first officially signed commitment aimed at the final cessation of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, aside from various ceasefire agreements following periods of conflict that escalated into full-scale war. The region has been in a state of conflict since the two countries declared their independence.
«I stopped six wars», Trump said last month in Scotland. — «On average, I stop about one war a month».
Photo: NYT