BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 9. “The Trump route for international peace will open great opportunities for many countries,” said President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev during a joint press conference in Washington with U.S. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan.
"Actually, we are writing a new history in bilateral, interstate relationship between the United States and Azerbaijan. We are starting a path towards a strategic partnership. The Charter on Strategic Partnership will be elaborated over several months, and this is a historic achievement for Azerbaijan. Because being in the format of strategic partnership with the greatest country in the world is a great opportunity and also very big responsibility.
And this strategic partnership format embraces so many important areas including mutual investment, trade, energy, connectivity, transit, AI, defense sales, counterterrorism – all these areas in which we have had and hopefully will have very active cooperation in the future. It opens a lot of opportunities for Azerbaijan to continue its path of development, diversify its economy, keep unemployment low, as it is today, and to look to the future with great optimism.
Also, I am very grateful to the President for lifting the restrictions that were imposed on Azerbaijan back in 1992, just one year after Azerbaijan restored its independence. These restrictions were imposed on us only a year after independence, and after 33 years, they have been lifted today. It’s a day which will be remembered by the people of Azerbaijan with a feeling of pride and gratitude towards President Trump for his attitude towards Azerbaijan, for his vision not only for our region. We exchanged views today, and I said that within several months, he managed to put an end to conflicts in Asia, in Africa and now in the South Caucasus.
What we could not achieve for more than 30 years – we had to sacrifice lives, fight two very bad wars with a lot of casualties. Without President Trump, his team and our great friend Mr. Witkoff and his team, probably today, Armenia Azerbaijan would have been again in this endless process of negotiations.
So really, it's a historic day. We are today establishing peace in the Caucasus, which will open great opportunities not only for our region. As President Trump correctly mentioned, the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity will create new connectivity lines, lift the walls and l create connectivity opportunities for so many countries with investments, with prosperity, with stability," said President Ilham Aliyev.