Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia and President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan signed a joint declaration [12] at the White House on Aug. 8, with Donald Trump boasting that the US-brokered deal ends decades of conflict between the Caucasus neighbors. Critically, the agreement calls for a new transport corridor across Armenian territory, linking Azerbaijan to its exclave of Nakhchivan [13], which lies between Armenia and Iran. The corridor is to be named the "Trump Route for International Peace & Prosperity," and Armenia has granted the United States the right to manage it for 99 years. US companies will have exclusive development rights on the corridor throughout this period.
Nakhchivan also shares a small strip of border with Azerbaijan's historical ally Turkey, making the route militarily strategic. The corridor would follow the Iranian border to Turkish territory. Under the deal, the Minsk Group [16], created by the OSCE in 1992 to mediate [17] the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, is to be dissolved. (The Guardian [18], The Cradle [19], Armenian Weekly [20], AzerNews [21], News.az [22])
Under the terms of the agreement, Armenia is required to officially recognize Azerbaijan's territorial integrity within Soviet-era borders, and renounce any current or future territorial claims. This effectively bars Armenia from seeking redress over questions concerning Nagorno-Karabakh, the formerly Armenian-governed breakaway enclave within Azerbaijan's borders, which was taken [23] by Azerbaijani forces in September 2023, amid accusations of ethnic cleansing [24] of Armenian inhabitants.
Murad Papazyan of the opposition Armenian Revolutionary Federation [25] harshly criticized [26] the agreement, stating that it "benefits Azerbaijan and Turkey" at the expense of Armenia. He called the "Trump Route," which had previously been proposed under the name of the Zangezur Corridor, "a serious encroachment on the sovereignty and security of Armenia," and potentially "an existential threat" to the survivial of the country. (Armenian Weekly [27])
