State Department: ‘The World Knows to Take Trump Seriously’ — Credits Him With Armenia-Azerbaijan ‘Historic Peace Deal’ That ‘Matters Greatly’ to the Administration and World

During a State Department press briefing in Washington on Tuesday, spokesperson Tammy Bruce was asked by a journalist about the recent peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan. In her response, Bruce described the U.S.-brokered deal as a “historic” achievement for President Donald Trump, saying “this matters to this administration, it matters to the world.” She credited Trump with succeeding where other world leaders — including Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden — had not.

The remarks came days after Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed the agreement in Washington, alongside bilateral economic deals with the United States. Critics say the accord meets key Azerbaijani demands while leaving unresolved the forced displacement of Artsakh’s Armenian population, the dozens of Armenian POWs held in Baku prisons, and the future of the region’s indigenous Armenian cultural heritage.

Bruce referred to Trump as “the president of peace,” citing his “realist” approach to diplomacy and his commitment to ending conflicts. She also spoke about the economic provisions of the agreement, saying they would “unlock the great potential of the South Caucasus” in trade, energy, infrastructure, and technology.

The peace deal includes the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group — the only international body that had mediated the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict — and the establishment of a U.S.-supervised transit route through Armenia to Azerbaijan’s Nakhijevan exclave. Both measures were conditions set by Azerbaijan for concluding a peace agreement.

In recent years, Armenia’s government has recognized Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan, following Baku’s military offensives in 2020 and 2023. The Washington agreement does not address the right of forcibly displaced Artsakh Armenians to return to their homes, the prisoners of war held in captivity, or the protection of the region’s cultural and religious sites.

Azerbaijan is also pressing Armenia to amend its Constitution to remove language it claims implies territorial claims — a change that has not yet been made.

Bruce’s full comments included:

“The world knows to take President Trump seriously. This arrangement, this deal, is important to him. They were at the White House. This matters to this administration. It matters to the world… only President Trump was able to successfully bring these two countries together to agree to this historic peace… he’s a realist… stopping the wars.”

While the agreement has been welcomed by Washington and Baku as a diplomatic success, it has drawn mixed reactions in Armenia and among diaspora communities. Supporters of Artsakh’s independence argue the deal fails to address long-standing grievances and the root causes of the conflict.

Some Western and regional leaders have expressed support, while Iran and Russia have voiced concerns over the U.S. role in the proposed transit route through Armenia.

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