Azerbaijan’s president says Trump brought about ‘turning point’ in pursuit of peace in South Caucasus

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Saturday said that US President Donald Trump brought about a “turning point” in the pursuit of a lasting peace in the South Caucasus.

In a letter addressed to Trump, Aliyev highlighted that Aug. 8 marked the first anniversary of a peace summit involving them and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Washington, DC, saying this laid the foundation for peace between Baku and Yerevan, as well as brought about a “turning point” for the normalization of their relations.

“Through your (Trump’s) determination and steadfast resolve, you succeeded in bringing to an end a conflict that had endured for three decades, laying the foundation for an era of reconciliation and mutually beneficial partnership between our peoples,” Aliyev said.

Aliyev said that a trilateral joint declaration signed at the summit held in the White House, as well as an initialed peace deal and joint appeal regarding the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group, have played a decisive role in securing lasting peace and stability in the region. opening a “promising new chapter of peace, sustainable development, and mutually beneficial cooperation.”

He said that the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP), a transit project designed to link mainland Azerbaijan with its Nakhchivan exclave through southern Armenia, holds “tremendous” potential for advancing multilateral economic cooperation, enhancing regional transport connectivity, and ensuring regional peace and security.

“I once again express my profound gratitude for your strong leadership in advancing the peace agenda in our region,” Aliyev further said, expressing Azerbaijani society is “embracing the new reality and the peaceful environment that have emerged in the region.”

He also said that important steps have been undertaken to advance relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the past year, including the lifting of restrictions on the transportation of cargo from Azerbaijan to Armenia.

On Aug. 8, 2025, Aliyev and Pashinyan initialed an agreement and, along with Trump, signed a joint declaration at a summit in the White House, aiming to end decades of conflict, with commitments to cease hostilities, reopen transport routes, and normalize relations.

The two South Caucasus neighbors had fought in two major wars in the Karabakh region within Azerbaijan since the late 1980s.

In his letter, Aliyev said the meeting in Washington last August also marked a “historic milestone” in Azerbaijani-US relations, and that US Vice President JD Vance’s visit to Azerbaijan in February and the signing of a charter on strategic partnership between their countries “stand as a testament to the remarkable progress achieved in such a short period of time and to the importance you attach to the further development of Azerbaijan-United States relations.”

“At the same time, we regard your decision to extend the waiver of the discriminatory Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act as an important step toward the restoration of historical justice,” he said.

“We remain determined to further expand and enrich with new substance the friendship, strategic partnership, and relations based on mutual trust, respect, and support between Azerbaijan and the United States. We look forward to continuing our close cooperation with you in this direction,” he added.