The Armenia-Azerbaijan peace deal, signed in August 2025, marks a historic effort to end nearly 37 years of conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region and to establish lasting peace and stability between the two countries.
Main provisions of the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace agreement

The main provisions of the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace agreement signed in 2025 are:

• Mutual Recognition and Territorial Integrity: Both countries recognize each other's sovereignty, territorial integrity, and inviolability of international borders. They commit to not having or raising any territorial claims against each other now or in the future.
• End to Hostilities and Non-aggression: The agreement calls for a full cessation of armed conflict. Neither side will use or threaten force against the other, nor allow third parties to use their territories for military aggression inconsistent with the UN Charter.
• Diplomatic Relations: The parties agree to establish formal diplomatic relations, including reopening embassies after the treaty enters into force.
• Border Delimitation and Demarcation: Both sides will negotiate in good faith to delimit and demarcate their mutual borders peacefully, with confidence-building measures and prohibition of third-party military presence along the border until demarcation is complete.
• Economic, Transit, and Cultural Cooperation: The agreement allows for future cooperation in economic development, transit, transport, environmental, humanitarian, and cultural fields, including the negotiation of transport corridors.
• Transit Corridor ("Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity" or TRIPP): A new transit corridor through Armenia will connect Azerbaijan’s mainland to its Nakhchivan exclave. The U.S. has exclusive development rights over this corridor for 99 years, covering infrastructure such as railways, highways, pipelines, and communication links.
• Security Cooperation and Confidence Building: There are provisions to combat intolerance, hate, separatism, violent extremism, and terrorism. The agreement also addresses humanitarian issues including missing persons from the conflict.
• Third-Party Involvement: The treaty prohibits third-party forces using either party's territory for aggression against the other.
• Dissolution of OSCE Minsk Group: The deal effectively ends the OSCE Minsk Group's role as mediator in the conflict.
• Legal and Implementation Provisions: The treaty will enter into force after the parties complete their internal national legal procedures.

The agreement aims to end decades of hostility, promote peaceful coexistence, reopen diplomatic and trade relations, and foster regional stability through American-brokered initiatives and infrastructure development.
This comprehensive treaty represents a pivotal step towards durable peace and economic integration in the South Caucasus following decades of conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. However, successful implementation will depend on ongoing negotiations, political will, and regional dynamics.

About Nagorno-Karabakh
   

• Nagorno-Karabakh is a mountainous region in southwestern Azerbaijan, historically inhabited predominantly by ethnic Armenians. It was an autonomous oblast (province) within the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic during the Soviet era. The region is also known by Armenian people as Artsakh.
• The conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh is primarily ethnic and territorial, dating back to the late 1980s. After the Soviet Union dissolved, Nagorno-Karabakh declared independence in 1992, which led to war between ethnic Armenians in the region supported by Armenia, and Azerbaijan. A ceasefire was brokered in 1994, resulting in de facto Armenian control of Nagorno-Karabakh, although it was internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan.
• In 2020, a second war broke out, ending with Azerbaijan regaining control over much of the territory following a ceasefire agreement brokered by Russia. Russian peacekeepers were stationed in the region afterward. The self-declared Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (Artsakh) dissolved in 2023 after Azerbaijan launched a military offensive, leading to the reintegration of the region under Azerbaijani administration.
• The status of the ethnic Armenian population has been a major point of tension, with Azerbaijan emphasizing reintegration and the end of any special autonomous status for Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh. This has raised concerns about the safety and rights of the Armenian population there.
• The conflict remains a complex and sensitive geopolitical issue involving historical claims, ethnic identities, and international diplomacy. The region is strategically significant and has experienced cycles of violence and fragile peace efforts over the decades.

In summary, Nagorno-Karabakh is a disputed region in Azerbaijan with a predominantly Armenian ethnic population that declared independence but never gained international recognition, and which has been at the center of prolonged conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, especially from the late 1980s through the early 2020s. The region is now under Azerbaijani control following recent conflicts and political developments.

Significance of Peace Deal

The peace deal between Azerbaijan and Armenia signed in 2025 is highly significant for several reasons:

• It marks a historic end to nearly four decades of conflict centered on the Nagorno-Karabakh region, a key source of tension and violence between the two countries since the late 1980s.
• The agreement commits both nations to cease hostilities, respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and open trade and travel routes. This represents a major breakthrough in regional diplomacy and stability.
• The deal includes a strategic transit corridor called the "Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity" (TRIPP), connecting Azerbaijan to its exclave Nakhchivan through Armenian territory. The United States has exclusive development rights in this corridor for 99 years, aiming to enable direct transport linking Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia without passing through Russia or Iran.
• This corridor is expected to reshape regional trade and power dynamics, reducing the influence of Russia, Iran, and China in the South Caucasus, and strengthening ties between Azerbaijan and Turkey.
• The peace treaty opens the door for normalization of relations, renewed diplomacy, and economic cooperation in the South Caucasus, a region of great geopolitical importance due to its location and rich natural resources.
• Armenia’s move away from the Russian orbit towards closer ties with the EU and the US, and Azerbaijan’s growing role as an energy partner for Europe, underscore the wider geopolitical implications.
• The deal has been hailed as a milestone for peace, turning a once bloodstained region into a potential arena of prosperity. It also has significance for third countries like India, which supports the peace process and benefits from transit routes through the region.

Overall, the Azerbaijan-Armenia peace deal is a critical development for lasting peace in the South Caucasus, fostering regional connectivity, economic opportunities, and a more stable geopolitical balance after decades of conflict and hostility. It represents a breakthrough facilitated by US mediation and a hopeful new chapter for the region.
 

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