Pashinyan Signs Trump-Brokered ‘Peace Deal’ With Azerbaijan at White House

Pashinyan’s Washington Deal Hands Azerbaijan Major Gains, Ignores Artsakh’s Rights

BREAKING NEWS: A so-called “historic” peace agreement signed at the White House today between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, and U.S. President Donald Trump is being celebrated in Washington and Baku — but for Armenians at home and across the diaspora, it marks another devastating loss in a series of political failures.

The deal, brokered by Trump and promoted as a permanent end to hostilities, ignores the core issues at the heart of the decades-long conflict. It says nothing about Azerbaijan’s ongoing aggression against Armenia, its illegal occupation of Armenian lands, or its refusal to release Armenian prisoners of war still held in Baku. There is no provision guaranteeing the safe and dignified return of the displaced Armenians of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) to their ancestral homes — a right that international law should protect but which this agreement completely sidesteps.

Even worse, the agreement opens the door for a U.S.-controlled “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity” (TRIPP) through Syunik — the strategic province bordering Iran — granting Washington management rights for 99 years. Such a move risks destabilizing Armenia’s long-standing friendly relations with Iran, one of its only reliable neighbors in a hostile region. This is a geopolitical concession with deep, long-term consequences for Armenia’s sovereignty.

Pashinyan Avoids Artsakh Question

The lack of attention to Artsakh was painfully clear during the press conference. When a journalist directly asked if Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh would be able to return to their homes, Pashinyan avoided answering entirely. Instead, he made a lighthearted comment about being invited to Trump’s potential Nobel Peace Prize ceremony — a shocking display of misplaced priorities while thousands of displaced Artsakh Armenians remain without homes, security, or justice.

Aliyev, meanwhile, seized the spotlight to declare the day “historic for Azerbaijan,” celebrating the agreement as a victory that will “open new regional opportunities” and formally announcing the end of the OSCE Minsk Group process — the very diplomatic framework that, despite its flaws, at least recognized the need to negotiate Artsakh’s status. By ending that process without securing Artsakh’s rights, Pashinyan effectively erased a key international mechanism that could have defended Armenian interests.

U.S. Military Shift Benefits Baku

Perhaps most alarming for Armenia’s security is Trump’s announcement that the United States will remove restrictions on defense cooperation with Azerbaijan by suspending Section 907 of the “Freedom Support Act.” This provision, in place since 1992, prohibited direct U.S. aid to Baku due to its aggression against Armenia. Lifting it now — especially without any guarantee of Azerbaijan ceasing its militarization — effectively rewards Aliyev for his past wars and greenlights future threats.

Trump also boasted that the United States had “destroyed Iran’s nuclear capability,” framing the Syunik corridor project within a wider anti-Iran strategy. Armenia now finds itself caught between U.S. geopolitical interests and its vital relationship with Tehran, a dangerous position for a small, landlocked country already under threat.

Economic Projects Without Security Guarantees

The deal outlines U.S.-backed infrastructure projects, energy cooperation, and technology investments in both Armenia and Azerbaijan. While this may sound positive on paper, without genuine security guarantees and accountability for past war crimes, such projects risk embedding Azerbaijan even deeper into the region’s economy while Armenia remains vulnerable. Economic promises mean little if the border remains unsafe and Armenia’s allies shrink.

Aliyev’s enthusiasm was telling:

“We are truly opening a new page in history,” Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev declared… “Who else deserves the Nobel Peace Prize if not President Trump? In just six months, he has worked a miracle.”

For Azerbaijan, the “miracle” is clear — a peace deal that cements its territorial gains, weakens Armenian negotiating positions, ends the Minsk Group process, and reopens military cooperation with the United States.

Pashinyan’s Praise for Trump

Instead of challenging the glaring omissions in the agreement, Pashinyan praised Trump’s “firm commitment to peace,” describing the deal as a “major success for the world” and even quoting the Bible to sanctify it:

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.”

But for many Armenians, the deal is not peace — it is surrender dressed in diplomatic language. Without the return of Artsakh’s Armenians, the release of POWs, or security assurances against future Azerbaijani attacks, the agreement serves Azerbaijan’s interests far more than Armenia’s.

The Bigger Picture

This is not the first time Pashinyan has signed away Armenian leverage in the name of “peace.” Since the 2020 war, his government has made concession after concession, each time claiming it was necessary for stability, yet each time leaving Armenia weaker and more isolated. Today’s White House ceremony may be historic, but history will likely remember it as another step in the dismantling of Armenia’s position in the South Caucasus.

In the end, the winners are Trump, who gains an international “peacemaker” title; Aliyev, who secures military, economic, and political victories without addressing his war crimes; and U.S. companies, who gain unprecedented access to Armenia’s most strategic province. The losers are the displaced families of Artsakh, the Armenian POWs still held captive, and the future of an independent, secure Armenia.

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