The United States, Azerbaijan and Armenia issued a joint statement on August 10, as the first anniversary of the peace summit held at the White House approached. The statement listed steps taken in the areas of transport, energy and trade connectivity, as well as peace and stability in the South Caucasus.
US funding for the TRIPP route
The statement said work was continuing to implement TRIPP, the multimodal transit corridor that President Trump called the International Peace and Prosperity Route. The United States and Armenia signed an agreement to establish TRIPP Development Company, which will manage infrastructure work along the route. Engineering and land-survey activities have also begun in Armenia.
Azerbaijan has largely completed road and railway construction on its territory, and these lines will connect to the TRIPP route in Armenia. The three countries expressed support for establishing an electricity transmission line along the route.
The United States allocated $201 million to the Trans-Caspian Entrepreneurship Fund to attract private-sector investment in the Trans-Caspian Trade Route in the South Caucasus and Central Asia. The joint statement also noted that the United States had signed new partnerships and memorandums of understanding with Armenia and Azerbaijan in the areas of energy security, border infrastructure and security, artificial intelligence and semiconductors, and critical minerals.
New steps on borders and trade
According to the joint statement, Azerbaijan unilaterally lifted transit restrictions on Armenia. Over the course of one year, approximately 60,000 tons of cargo were transported to and from Armenia via Azerbaijan, while a further 20,000 tons of petroleum products were sent to Armenia. The two countries are continuing efforts to increase their bilateral trade volume.
Azerbaijan and Armenia have taken concrete steps to maintain stability along the border, normalize relations, delimit their borders and build confidence. Work is continuing on measures needed to achieve lasting stability.
Trump nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
The joint statement recalled that, one year earlier, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had signed a joint peace declaration at a summit held at the White House with the participation of President Trump. At the same meeting, the foreign ministers of the two countries initialed a draft agreement on peace and the establishment of interstate relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Aliyev and Pashinyan jointly nominated President Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to achieve peace. The statement said the joint declaration provided a roadmap for strengthening peace, increasing prosperity and deepening the partnership.
Communications and regional structures
The statement announced that the two countries' telecommunications operators had signed an agreement on internet connectivity. The agreement aims to diversify regional communications routes, improve the reliability of networks in the South Caucasus and support the development of Eurasian telecommunications infrastructure.
At the joint request of Armenia and Azerbaijan, the structures linked to the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe were dissolved. The statement described this step as recognition that the period of unresolved conflict had ended.
The statement also said that Armenia and Azerbaijan had joined the Peace Council at the invitation of the United States. The three countries reiterated their support for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and jurisdiction of Armenia and Azerbaijan within their internationally recognized borders.
The parties declared their commitment to fully implementing the joint declaration of August 8, as well as bilateral agreements and memorandums signed with Armenia and Azerbaijan. The statement concluded by saying that lasting peace could not be achieved in a single day, but that the steps taken by Azerbaijan and Armenia could serve as an example for the world.
