US President Donald Trump will host Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at the White House on Friday to sign a US-brokered peace agreement that creates a trade corridor bypassing Iran, Axios reported.
The deal seeks to end decades of conflict between the two countries and includes a 43.5-kilometer corridor across Armenia’s Syunik Province. The route, to be developed by the United States and called the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, will link Azerbaijan’s mainland with its Nakhchivan exclave on the Turkish border.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought over Nagorno-Karabakh since the late 1980s, most recently in 2023 when Azerbaijan seized the territory. The corridor would enable travel and trade between Turkey, Azerbaijan and Central Asia without crossing Iran or Russia. Iran has opposed the project, saying it would cut off its only direct land route to Armenia and reduce its influence in the South Caucasus. Russia has also criticized it, while Turkey supports it.
Washington’s quiet diplomacy
Axios said the Trump administration’s work began in March when White House special envoy Steve Witkoff visited Baku after a trip to Moscow at Qatar’s request. According to a US official who spoke to Axios, Witkoff then asked Aryeh Lightstone, a former aide to US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman and close to Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, to lead the talks. Lightstone made five trips to the region to negotiate with both sides.
The same US official told Axios that negotiators pitched Pashinyan on the idea that by allowing a US-developed route, Armenia would gain a strong partner in Washington and a safeguard against future pressure from Baku. Armenia dropped its long-standing objection to the corridor during these talks.
Geopolitical and economic stakes
The route is expected to boost regional trade by billions of dollars a year, US officials told Axios. It would also limit the role of Russia and Iran, whose influence in the South Caucasus has been challenged since the Ukraine war.
The US official said Tehran fears the corridor will leave it more dependent on Azerbaijan for access to Russia and Europe.
The same official described the plan as “very Trumpian,” focusing on trade and economic growth rather than framing it purely as a security issue, and said the deal opens Armenia to the world and gives it the United States as a key partner instead of Iran.
From quiet talks to public signing
Trump called the upcoming gathering a Historic Peace Summit and praised both leaders for “doing the right thing” for their people in a post on Truth Social.
“Peace is not finalized there is still more work to do, but the accord sets out the main issues and steps to resolve them,” the US official told Axios. The agreement will begin with government-to-government cooperation, with hopes it will grow into warmer relations between citizens over time.
