Armenia and Azerbaijan have made public the text of a peace agreement, initialed in Washington last week, in which both countries pledged to recognize each other’s territorial integrity and formally end nearly four decades of hostilities.

The accord was reached on Friday at the White House, where Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met with US President Donald Trump. According to the document released by both nations’ foreign ministries, Yerevan and Baku agreed to renounce all territorial claims against one another, refrain from the use of force, and uphold international law.

“This agreement is a solid foundation for establishing a reliable and lasting peace, the result of an accord between Armenia and Azerbaijan that reflects the balanced interests of the two countries,” Pashinyan wrote on Facebook.

At the signing, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan shook hands to mark the moment, with US President Donald Trump in the middle, as they posed for photographs.

The Zangezur Corridor

The two South Caucasus countries signed bilateral agreements, as well as with the US, allowing for the reopening of key transportation routes. Within the deal is an agreement that will create a major transit corridor to be named the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, the White House said.

Earlier, Trump had announced that a new peace declaration between Armenia and Azerbaijan would establish a special transit corridor granting Azerbaijan access to its exclave, Nakhichevan, being separated by a 32km-wide (20-mile) patch of Armenian territory, while affirming the latter's sovereignty. 

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For Azerbaijan, a major producer of oil and gas, the route also provides a more direct link to Turkey and onward to Europe.

Trump indicated he’d like to visit the route, saying, “We’re going to have to get over there.”

While Donald Trump said that naming the route after him was “a great honour for me,” he claimed, “I didn’t ask for this.” A senior administration official said it was the Armenians who suggested the name.

The Trump administration began active engagement earlier this year when Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, met Aliyev in Baku to discuss what a senior official described as a “regional reset". Talks on developing the Zangezur route, which will feature rail lines, energy pipelines, and fiber optic cables, are set to begin next week, with at least nine interested developers, according to a US official speaking anonymously.

Iran: No decision on US nuclear talks, reaffirms position on Zangezur

Addressing Iran's stance on the Zangezur Corridor, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday that he will hold a phone call with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, and that Armenia’s deputy foreign minister will visit Tehran on Tuesday. He affirmed Iran’s position of welcoming any Armenia-Azerbaijan peace agreement.

On his part, President Masoud Pezeshkian said Araghchi presented a report on the Zangezur Corridor during the cabinet meeting on Saturday, adding that “the issue is not as exaggerated as it has been in the media.” He stressed that all of Iran’s demands regarding the route have been observed, including maintaining territorial integrity and keeping transit routes open toward Europe and the north.

Pezeshkian noted that the only remaining issue is that “an American company and an Armenian company will be the ones constructing this road.”

The 40-kilometer Zangezur Corridor connects Azerbaijan to its autonomous exclave of Nakhchivan via Armenia’s Syunik Province, passing through the city of Meghri. Nakhchivan’s reliance on Iranian territory as a primary transit route has strengthened Tehran’s influence in the South Caucasus, giving it leverage over regional connectivity and security.

Read more: Iran rejects US-backed corridor through Armenia, will defend interests