Armenia and Azerbaijan sign US-brokered peace agreement
The agreement was brokered by the United States. According to the document, the countries agreed to build the Zangezur Corridor, which will connect Azerbaijan with its Nakhchivan Republic, which is separated from the rest of the country by the territories of Armenia. In this agreement, the United States claims exclusive rights to build the route, which will be called the Crossroads of Peace.
Armenia and Azerbaijan also agreed to sign a joint letter formally requesting the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to dissolve the Minsk Group, led by Russia, France and the United States. The group was established in 1994 to seek a solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, but has failed to make progress in nearly three decades.
The parties hope that the agreement will open up new economic opportunities and bring long-awaited peace. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan expressed gratitude to Trump for his initiative and efforts.
As Reuters has previously learned, the peace deal includes a move to strengthen economic ties between the two countries after decades of conflict, separate U.S. agreements on energy, technology, trade, infrastructure and border security, and a request to disband the Minsk Group, which France, Russia and the United States have co-led since its creation in 1992 to mediate the conflict.