President Donald Trump confirmed that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev will travel to the White House on August 8 to sign a U.S.-brokered peace agreement formally ending their decades-long confrontation over Nagorno-Karabakh. The ceremony will cap thirteen months of back-channel talks led by special envoy Steve Witkoff, who shuttled between Yerevan and Baku after separate exploratory meetings in Washington last June. Senior administration aides say the deal emerged after both leaders accepted an American proposal linking a mutual recognition of sovereignty to a U.S.-financed transit corridor across Armenia’s Syunik province. Russian forces, which have maintained a limited peacekeeping presence in the region since 2020, were not invited to the signing but have been briefed through diplomatic channels.

Terms of the Deal

The accord has two binding instruments and one non-binding annex. First, the “Declaration on Mutual Recognition” commits each state to respect the other’s territorial integrity based on the borders recognized at the United Nations in 1992. Second, a “Protocol on Demarcation and Connectivity” establishes a joint boundary commission, backed by U.S. technical advisers, and authorizes the so-called Syunik Transit Corridor. Under the protocol, Armenia will retain full customs jurisdiction over the corridor while guaranteeing “unimpeded movement of passengers, freight, energy, and data” between mainland Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan exclave. The non-binding annex outlines future cooperation on humanitarian demining, prisoner exchanges, and the return of displaced persons but leaves security arrangements inside Nagorno-Karabakh to later talks under Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe auspices.

Regional Reactions

The agreement has drawn measured support and mild skepticism across the region. The Kremlin, whose influence waned after Azerbaijan retook Nagorno-Karabakh in September 2023, issued a short statement welcoming any deal that stabilizes the South Caucasus, while noting that its 1,960-member peacekeeping force would remain “until duties are completed.” Turkey called the corridor a “strategic breakthrough” for east-west commerce, and Iran reiterated its opposition to any project that might alter the Armenia–Iran border but said it would “evaluate the text once published.” The European Union signaled readiness to fund humanitarian measures yet stopped short of endorsing the U.S. corridor plan, instead urging “transparent tender procedures.” Analysts in Tbilisi and Brussels view Washington’s development rights inside Syunik as an attempt to secure an alternative trade and energy route that bypasses Russia and Iran.

Implementation Timeline

White House fact sheets list an ambitious schedule. Within ten days of signing, Armenia and Azerbaijan must nominate members to the boundary commission, which will meet in Brussels before August 31. The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation will open bidding this fall on a multiyear concession to design, build, and operate the Syunik corridor, with target rail service by late 2028. A separate U.S.-Armenia framework will channel up to $450 million for road upgrades, fiber-optic links, and customs modernization. The agreement also requires both parties to exchange all remaining prisoners of war and share information on missing persons by September 30. Quarterly compliance reviews will rotate between Yerevan and Baku, with the United States holding observer status and issuing public progress notes.

What Comes Next

The success of the accord will depend on follow-through in three areas: border demarcation, corridor financing, and local security for ethnic Armenian residents who remain in or near Nagorno-Karabakh. U.S. officials say any failure to honor commitments could jeopardize pending bilateral trade arrangements and access to American development funds. For now, the administration is positioning the signing as evidence that economic incentives and direct presidential engagement can resolve protracted conflicts without the need for new military deployments. Whether that approach endures will be watched closely in other regions where Washington is attempting similar diplomacy.