Tokayev praises Trump’s mediation in sealing Armenia-Azerbaijan peace deal

Astana, Aug 9 (EFE).- Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Saturday praised the role of U.S. leader Donald Trump in brokering a preliminary peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan at the White House the previous day.

The agreement was possible “thanks to the energetic and effective mediation of President Trump, who convinced the Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders to show strategic-level will and vision,” the Kazakh presidency said in a statement.

The communiqué stressed that the document not only ended the military conflict but also paved the way for establishing diplomatic relations and developing economic cooperation based on “a solid peace.”

It recalled that Kazakhstan also took part in the peace process by hosting foreign minister-level negotiations in the city of Almaty.

Experts, meanwhile, note that normalization between the two Caucasus nations will benefit Kazakhstan, as it will open a corridor from the Caspian Sea to the Caucasus, Turkey and Europe for the export of its vast natural resources.

The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan on Friday signed at the White House an agreement setting out a roadmap to end nearly four decades of armed conflict.

“Armenia and Azerbaijan commit to permanently ceasing hostilities, opening trade, allowing travel, restoring diplomatic relations, and respecting each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Trump said, joined by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

A central element of the accord is the creation of a corridor named the Trump Route for Peace and International Prosperity (TRIPP)—formerly known as the Zangezur Corridor—stretching some 43 kilometers across Armenian territory.

The peace deal is subject to a constitutional referendum in which Armenians must remove all references to the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, an Azerbaijani enclave populated by Armenians and captured by Baku in 2023—from the preamble of the country’s constitution.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who spoke with Aliyev on Friday, supports the agreement, while Iran opposes the Washington-controlled corridor project, saying it would be a source of instability and U.S. interference in the region. EFE

kk-mos/jrh