In a&nbsp;landmark breakthrough&nbsp;for a conflict that has scarred the&nbsp;South Caucasus&nbsp;for over three decades,&nbsp;Azerbaijan&nbsp;and&nbsp;Armenia&nbsp;signed a&nbsp;historic peace treaty&nbsp;on Friday at the&nbsp;White House, witnessed by&nbsp;US President Donald Trump. This agreement marks a&nbsp;decisive step&nbsp;towards&nbsp;normalising relations&nbsp;between the two nations, whose bitter dispute over the&nbsp;Nagorno-Karabakh&nbsp;region triggered a prolonged&nbsp;war, displacement, and regional&nbsp;instability.
<img src="https://ibp-benefits.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/prod/news/uploads/images/1754709300831_GxzuNYNXcAA36Bz.jpeg" alt="GxzuNYNXcAA36Bz.jpeg" width="680" height="532">
The deal is significant not only for the Caucasus but also for&nbsp;global geopolitics, signalling a subtle shift in&nbsp;Moscow&rsquo;s traditional dominance&nbsp;over the area. The&nbsp;US administration&rsquo;s direct involvement, which led to the resolution of a key&nbsp;transit corridor dispute, was crucial in breaking the deadlock. Known informally as the&nbsp;&ldquo;Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity,&rdquo;&nbsp;this corridor will connect Azerbaijan&rsquo;s mainland with its&nbsp;Nakhichevan exclavethrough Armenia&rsquo;s mountainous&nbsp;Zangezur region&mdash;once a major obstacle to peace talks.
President Ilham Aliyev&nbsp;of Azerbaijan and&nbsp;Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan&nbsp;stood side by side, putting pen to paper in a ceremony that concluded decades of hostilities marked by&nbsp;war&nbsp;and deep-seated&nbsp;mistrust. Since the late 1980s, the conflict has centred on&nbsp;Nagorno-Karabakh, a region with an&nbsp;ethnic Armenian majority&nbsp;within Azerbaijan&rsquo;s borders. After Azerbaijan reclaimed full control of the area in&nbsp;2023, nearly all of its&nbsp;Armenian population fled, intensifying the&nbsp;humanitarian&nbsp;and political complexities.
This agreement not only sets the stage for&nbsp;peace&nbsp;but also unlocks new&nbsp;economic opportunities&nbsp;for the South Caucasus region. Both nations are expected to sign additional&nbsp;bilateral agreements&nbsp;with the United States aimed at fostering&nbsp;trade, infrastructure development,&nbsp;and broader&nbsp;cooperation. The resolution of the&nbsp;transit corridor dispute was pivotal &mdash; as one official remarked, &ldquo;unblocking this piece might cause the rest to fall into place.&rdquo;
While sceptics remain wary of the&nbsp;longevity of this peace, the&nbsp;symbolic value&nbsp;of two former adversaries coming together under&nbsp;US auspices&nbsp;cannot be overstated. For the Trump administration, this accords a&nbsp;diplomatic win&nbsp;that challenges&nbsp;Moscow&rsquo;s traditional influence, reflecting a renewed&nbsp;US engagement&nbsp;in a geopolitically vital region.
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Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, Armenia Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, and US President Donald Trump sign the peace treaty accord (image source social media)

US-brokered peace treaty promises new economic ties and regional stability after decades

Historic Peace Deal Ends Azerbaijan-Armenia Rift

US-brokered peace treaty promises new economic ties and regional stability after decades

August 9, 2025 | 14:19 IST