In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump recalled late on Tuesday the talks between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev which he hosted at the White House on August 8.
“Such an Honor to have helped settle the War with Azerbaijan and Armenia and, at the same time, become friends with these two Great Leaders and Men, President Ilham Aliyev and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian,” he wrote above a photograph of himself, Aliyev and Pashinian. “It will be an everlasting friendship for me but, more importantly, for the United States of America!”
The Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders responded the next morning by again thanking Trump for his mediation.
“Once again thank you President Donald Trump for brokering this historic agreement with Azerbaijan — something no one before achieved,” Pashinian wrote on X.
The White House summit resulted in the initialing of an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty. Baku continues to make the signing of the treaty conditional on a change of Armenia’s constitution, something which requires a nationwide referendum. Also, Pashinian pledged to give the United States exclusive rights to a transit corridor through Armenia demanded by Azerbaijan.
Pashinian’s domestic political opponents maintain that even if the peace deal is signed, it will not preclude fresh Azerbaijani attacks on Armenian border areas. They argue that it does not specify in any way the long and heavily militarized Armenian-Azerbaijani border or contain any mechanisms for the border’s delimitation.
Pashinian again insisted last week that “peace has been established” between Armenia and Azerbaijan. His foreign minister, Ararat Mirzoyan, acknowledged, however, that the Washington agreements did not fully resolve the long-running conflict.
In its latest travel advisory issued on September 5, the State Department again warned Americans travelling to Armenia to stay away from its border with Azerbaijan.
“Past military action has occurred near the Armenia-Azerbaijan border and there is potential for armed conflict in the area,” it said. “U.S. citizens should avoid the area … The U.S. embassy does not allow embassy employees and their families to travel for non-essential reasons to the border region, as well as other areas of Armenia listed in this Travel Advisory.”
The areas include the southern section of Armenia’s Syunik province bordering Iran, the site of the would-be U.S.-administered corridor connecting Azerbaijan to its Nakhichevan exclave. A senior U.S. diplomat visited Yerevan last week to discuss with Armenian officials details of the transit arrangement to be named after Trump.
