Aliyev credits Trump with Armenia-Azerbaijan peace deal

Trump the Azerbaijani president called Trump “a man of peace” and said American officials kept their word so strictly during talks that produced a White House accord last August.

First Published: July 16, 2026, 9:38 AM ETUpdates (3): July 16, 2026, 9:38 AM ET

WASHINGTON D.C. — Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev credited Donald Trump with brokering a historic peace agreement with Armenia.

Trump shared the exclusive report by mentioning the source breitbart, which detailed remarks Aliyev delivered in Shusha, Azerbaijan, on July 15, 2026.

Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan since 2003, hailed Trump as a uniquely effective peacemaker whose approach to diplomacy proved decisive in securing the accord, according to breitbart. He made the remarks during the opening session of the 4th Shusha Global Media Forum, a gathering that drew hundreds of journalists, media executives, and policymakers from more than 50 countries, according to news.az.

“For the first time in my experience, American officials kept their word so strictly,” Aliyev said, describing the implementation of the deal, according to breitbart.

The agreement stems from a White House summit last August, where Trump hosted Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, according to breitbart. The leaders signed a Joint Declaration while their foreign ministers initialed the peace agreement, according to news.az. A joint United States-Azerbaijani working group was tasked with implementing its provisions over the following six months, and Aliyev said that follow-through paved the way for a broader Strategic Partnership Declaration between Washington and Baku.

The stakes reach beyond the South Caucasus. Azerbaijan, an energy-rich nation on the Caspian Sea, and Armenia fought over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave for nearly three decades. Aliyev argued that previous administrations pursued policies that froze the conflict rather than resolving it, according to breitbart. He said that pattern continued under President Joe Biden, recalling that Biden as a senator supported sanctions against Azerbaijan, which strained relations between the two capitals.

President Donald J. Trump shares news of a peace deal at Washington D.C.

For the average American reader, the accord signals a shift in a region that carries oil and gas pipelines linking the Caspian basin to European markets. Stability there can influence energy supplies and the balance of influence among the United States, Russia, and Iran along their shared borders.

Has this happened before? Trump has repeatedly asserted that he has helped resolve multiple international conflicts, and Aliyev said Azerbaijan’s experience demonstrated how that approach translated into tangible results, according to breitbart. The Armenia-Azerbaijan settlement adds to a list of disputes the administration has claimed credit for mediating.

The next test lies with the joint implementation group and the two governments as they carry out the accord’s remaining provisions. Aliyev credited Steve Witkoff and Aryeh Lightstone with playing a crucial role alongside Trump. A firm date for the next formal decision on the Strategic Partnership Declaration has not been announced.

Foreign policy has dominated Trump’s recent messaging. In the last 30 days, 76 of 504 Trump posts addressed foreign policy topics, according to Zenger analysis.

The Caucasus has drawn outside powers to its bargaining tables before, as happened before. In 1920, the region fell under Soviet control after brief independence, and Nagorno-Karabakh became an autonomous enclave inside Soviet Azerbaijan. Full-scale war erupted in 1988 and again in 2020, when a 44-day conflict killed thousands and redrew front lines. Aliyev’s government reclaimed the enclave in 2023, ending an Armenian breakaway administration that had governed for three decades and setting the stage for the negotiations that reached the White House.