Determined to pose as a peacemaker between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Donald Trump set out to reconcile two age-old enemies by opening new transport routes. On Friday, August 8, in Washington, the American president orchestrated the signing of a moratorium with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, a move that could reshape the geopolitical landscape of the South Caucasus. “They fought for 35 years and now, they are friends, and they will remain so for a long time,” he said at the ceremony at the White House.
Signed by all three leaders, the agreement outlines the creation of an ambitious transit corridor – rail, road, energy infrastructure with oil and gas pipelines, and digital fiber optic cables – designed to connect, over 32 kilometers, Azerbaijan to its exclave of Nakhchivan, neighboring Turkey, via the Armenian province of Syunik, which borders Iran. Named the “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity,” the project aims to open up the entire region.
The route offers Turkey a territorial link with its Azerbaijani ally and, beyond that, with oil- and gas-rich Central Asia. It also promises significant benefits for Armenia in terms of connectivity and financial gains. Additionally, it is expected to encourage Ankara and Baku to reopen their borders with Yerevan, closed for nearly four decades. “We are laying a foundation to write a better story than the one we inherited from the past,” Nikol Pashinyan said after the signing, while President Aliyev praised Trump who, “in six months, did a miracle,” by creating “connectivity opportunities for so many countries.”
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