Trump ramps up Caucasus diplomacy as Vance heads to Armenia and Azerbaijan

JD Vance, Armenia, Azerbaijan

US Vice President JD Vance will travel to Armenia and Azerbaijan in February, President Donald Trump said on Friday, in a move aimed at shoring up a US-brokered peace agreement between the two countries and pushing forward initiatives linked to the deal.

Armenia and Azerbaijan signed the agreement in August to bring an end to their decades-long conflict over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, which Azerbaijan most recently regained control of in 2023.

“I want to thank President Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Prime Minister Pashinyan of Armenia for honoring the Peace Agreement we signed last August,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

“In February, Vice President Vance will travel to both Countries to build on our Peace efforts, and advance the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity,” he said, referring to a transit corridor established under the agreement.

The corridor runs through Armenia, linking Azerbaijan to its western Nakhchivan exclave. Under the terms of the deal, the United States has been granted development rights to the route.

Trump said Washington would “strengthen our strategic partnership with Azerbaijan, a beautiful Agreement for Peaceful Nuclear Cooperation with Armenia” and arrange “Deals for our Great Semiconductor Makers.”

He also cited “the sale of Made in the U.S.A. Defense Equipment, such as body armor and boats, and more, to Azerbaijan.”

Earlier this month, the US State Department said Armenia would grant the United States nearly a three-quarters stake in developing the corridor, a deal Secretary of State Marco Rubio described as a “model for the world”.

Rubio met Azerbaijan’s foreign minister this week and praised Baku’s recent fuel shipments to Armenia as evidence of a “continued commitment to the historic peace deal,” the State Department said.

(With inputs from agencies)