Armenia-Azerbaijan peace deal could get U.S. rights to transit corridor

Officials from Armenia and Azerbaijan are expected to sign a peace deal at the White House that gives the U.S. exclusive development rights to a strategic transit corridor.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev are set to arrive at the White House on Friday.

The pact, called the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, or Tripp, will link Azerbaijan to Nakhchivan, an exclave of Azerbaijan, through Armenia, with the deal giving the U.S. development rights, U.S. officials told Reuters.

The corridor, shortening the land route from Asia to Europe, will be operated under Armenian law, and the U.S. will be subleasing the land to a consortium for infrastructure and management, the officials said. The hope is that the transit corridor will stop further fighting and open up the region.

President Trump said Thursday that he looks forward to hosting two South Caucasus leaders.

“These two Nations have been at War for many years, resulting in the deaths of thousands of people. Many Leaders have tried to end the War, with no success, until now, thanks to ‘TRUMP.’ My Administration has been engaged with both sides for quite some time,” he wrote.

He said that in conjunction with the peace signing, the U.S. will sign bilateral agreements with both countries “so we can fully unlock the potential of the South Caucasus Region.”

“I am very proud of these courageous Leaders for doing the right thing for the Great People of Armenia and Azerbaijan. It will be a Historic Day for Armenia, Azerbaijan, the United States, and, THE WORLD,” he wrote.

The leaders are also expected to sign a document exiting the Minsk Group, co-chaired by France, Russia and the U.S., to facilitate peace resolutions between the two countries.

Tensions have flared between Armenia and Azerbaijan since the late 1980s when Nagorno-Karabakh, a region of Azerbaijan with a mostly Armenian population, declared independence from Azerbaijan. Both countries gained their independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff traveled to the region in March to start the process of a peace deal. His team made multiple trips after that to work on an agreement.

Rep. Joe Wilson, South Carolina Republican, congratulated Mr. Trump on the deal, calling him a “peacemaker.”

He said the president “is not only bringing peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, but secured an incredible strategic transit corridor for the USA: the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity. Bravo!”

The South Caucasus region, which includes Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, has powerful neighbors: Turkey, Russia and Iran. Oil and gas pipelines run through the South Caucasus.

The president has produced multiple peace deals in his short second term.

Among them was a pact between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda in June, ending three decades of fighting that saw 6 million people killed. 

He has also been eager to get more countries to join the Abraham Accords, a 2020 agreement that normalized relations between Israel and other countries in the Gulf region.

Now he wants the fighting to stop among Israel, Hamas, Russia and Ukraine.

The president has produced multiple peace deals in his short second term and is vying for a Nobel Peace Prize, something he says he deserves but most likely won’t receive.

“I should have gotten it four or five times,” he said last month.

Among the agreements he engineered was one between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda in June, ending three decades of fighting that saw 6 million people killed.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet nominated him for the Nobel Prize for his role in stopping the fighting between Cambodia and Thailand.

The president also averted fighting between India and Pakistan.

“We stopped a lot of countries from war — India and Pakistan. We stopped a lot of countries,” Mr. Trump said Sunday. “You heard about Cambodia and Thailand. We got that one done. We got the Congo, which was going on for 31 years — Rwanda, that one’s done. We stopped a lot of wars.” 

Meanwhile, he has been eager to get more countries to join the Abraham Accords, a 2020 agreement that normalized relations between Israel and other countries in the Gulf region.

And he’s been working on ending the fighting among Israel and Hamas, and Russia and Ukraine.