US President Donald Trump hosted Armenian President Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at the White House to sign a peace agreement, but the story behind the deal is more complex than Trump’s claim of solo credit. The Caucasus region has been a long-standing fault line in Europe and Asia, with unresolved territorial disputes and ethnic tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Decades of war and skirmishes have yielded little progress until now. The US has had limited influence in resolving the conflict, but luck played a significant role. Meanwhile, regional powers such as Russia’s distraction by its war in Ukraine, Iran’s decline, and Turkey’s interest in the agreement made it possible for the US to gain some credit.
The new agreement focuses on the Zangezur Corridor and includes provisions for rail, energy, and digital connections. Both countries will sign bilateral agreements with the US and expand economic ties. However, critics argue that the deal fails to address key issues such as displacement and prisoner of war fate.
While the agreement is not perfect, it holds promise for creating conditions for peace in one of the most intractable post-Soviet conflicts. Sustained diplomatic engagement, trust-building, and professional military reform can eventually lead to stability, even if it’s just a start of a new chapter rather than an end to the story.
Source: https://www.thebulwark.com/p/who-deserves-credit-for-armenia-azerbaijan-peace-deal