At the Threshold of Peace: The Document That Radically Reshaped the Situation in the South Caucasus

The Washington Agreements, which laid the foundation for long-term peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia, were reached at the White House in August of last year through the mediation of U.S. President Donald Trump. Over the past year, this document has fundamentally reshaped the situation in the South Caucasus, putting an end to a 30-year period of bloodshed.

The declaration contains several key points and entails important geopolitical consequences, writes the newspaper "Caspian".

First, the parties confirmed mutual respect for territorial integrity and the inviolability of borders based on the UN Charter and the 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration. Second, a strict prohibition on the use of military force or the threat of its use to resolve any disputes was enshrined. Third, the leaders officially recorded the exclusion of any attempts at revenge, both in the present and in the future. In other words, an end has been put to revanchist aspirations. And finally, the parties unanimously supported the closure of the OSCE Minsk Process and the elimination of its associated outdated structures.

The declaration recorded that the foreign ministers had agreed on the text of the main "Agreement on the Establishment of Peace and Interstate Relations" for its subsequent ratification.

The role of the United States and monitoring of agreements

The White House served as the principal diplomatic mediator, overseeing the fulfillment of obligations at the highest level. Washington also gained exclusive access to infrastructure, meaning long-term preferences within the framework of the settlement, ensuring the involvement of American agencies in auditing regional projects.

From now on, the United States coordinates meetings of expert groups and diplomatic missions to eliminate remaining legal barriers, such as the reform of Armenia's Constitution.

The main economic outcome was the initiation of the transport program "Trump's Road to International Peace and Prosperity" — the TRIPP Project — on the territory of Armenia (Zangezur corridor). Moreover, it is designed to create a global Asia-Europe corridor bypassing Russia and Iran, which opens the way for large-scale American and Western investments in the transport and energy infrastructure of the South Caucasus.

Thus, conditions have been created for Azerbaijan and Armenia to finally begin building good-neighborly relations. The year that has passed since the signing of the Washington Declaration has brought fundamental changes to the South Caucasus, as the parties have moved from words to the implementation of the most complex geopolitical and infrastructural tasks.

To date, practical stages of agreeing on disputed sections of the state border based on mutual recognition of sovereignty