BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 8. Azerbaijan, which won the war, also left the peace table in Washington victorious, political analyst Azer Garayev told Trend.
According to him, August 8, 2025, was remembered as the day when a new page was opened in the political history of the South Caucasus. It was on that day that the agreed text of the peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia was initialed, and the parties signed a Joint Declaration, at a historic meeting held in Washington with the participation of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, U.S. President Donald Trump, and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Today marks one year since that event.
"This history cannot be viewed as just a page in the diplomatic calendar. The Washington meeting was the logical result of the consistent policy pursued by the Azerbaijani state over many years. The strategy set by President Ilham Aliyev initially envisaged the restoration of the country's territorial integrity and sovereignty, and then the formalization of the results achieved at the diplomatic level. Azerbaijan demonstrated its military superiority in the 2020 Second Karabakh War, and in 2023, it restored full sovereignty over Karabakh. After that, the main issue was to turn the military victory into a model of sustainable peace and regional cooperation," he said.
Garayev noted that it was here that the main feature of Azerbaijan's diplomatic line manifested itself.
"Baku didn't allow attempts to change the outcome of the war, but at the same time formed the peace agenda itself. Azerbaijan demanded that the peace agreement be based on the fundamental principles of international law, the territorial integrity and sovereignty of states. As a result, the document initialed in Washington reflected such key provisions as the recognition of each other's territorial integrity, the renunciation of territorial claims, and the non-use of force.
This was, in fact, the transformation of Azerbaijan's military victory into a diplomatic result. Just as Azerbaijan won the war, it also left the peace table as a party that achieved its main goals. In international platforms where Armenia's claims to Azerbaijani territories were once the subject of discussion, Azerbaijan now acted as a party that accepted the inviolability of territorial integrity and the establishment of interstate relations on this principle," he said.
The analyst emphasized that another important result of the Washington meeting was the transformation of the OSCE Minsk process into history.
"Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a joint appeal for the closure of the Minsk process and related structures. Thus, it was officially confirmed that the format, which has become a fruitless mediation mechanism since the 1990s, no longer meets the new realities. However, the importance of the agreement reached in Washington is not only in the peace document itself. The meeting was also an important turning point in terms of the future geopolitical and economic architecture of the South Caucasus.
In this regard, TRIPP (Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity) is of particular importance. In the Joint Declaration, Armenia expressed its commitment to developing a framework with the U.S. and other parties for this connection project on the territory of Armenia. One of the main goals of the project is to create a seamless connection between the main part of Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan and its integration into a wider international transport network.
"This route is also of strategic importance in terms of the realization of the transport connection in the direction of Zangezur, which Azerbaijan has been promoting for years. The formation of TRIPP can further strengthen Azerbaijan's role on the East-West transport map, expand the capabilities of the Middle Corridor, and turn the South Caucasus into a more important transit space between Europe and Central Asia," Garayev noted.
According to him, the result achieved in Washington is also an indicator of a new stage in Azerbaijan's foreign policy.
"The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on the establishment of a Strategic Working Group for the preparation of a Strategic Partnership Charter between Azerbaijan and the U.S. on the same day also demonstrated Baku's growing weight in relations with global powers. Against the background of all this, when we look at the events of August 8, 2025, it is clear that what happened in Washington wasn't a one-day diplomatic success. It was the result of years of state policy, military training, economic power, and most importantly, the consistent and far-sighted political course of President Ilham Aliyev.
Azerbaijan first ensured its territorial integrity on the battlefield, and then consolidated this reality in the international political arena. Therefore, August 8 is not only an important stage on the path to peace, but also a symbol of Azerbaijan's post-war diplomatic victory. Looking back from Washington a year later, the main result doesn't change: Azerbaijan ended the war as a winner, and left the peace table as a winner. Now the results of that victory are turning into a system of sustainable peace, security, transport, and economic cooperation in the region," the analyst added.
