WASHINGTON 

Armenia’s deputy foreign minister described an “historic” trilateral summit with Azerbaijan and the US at the White House as a turning point in Armenia-Azerbaijan normalization while creating an “important milestone” for normalization with Türkiye.

Vahan Kostanyan told Anadolu that the meetings marked “an important milestone,” one day after Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and US President Donald Trump signed an agreement at the White House to end decades of conflict.

“Yesterday’s discussions, both bilaterally with the United States and trilaterally with the United States and Azerbaijan, were very important, even historic,” said Kostanyan. “We registered an important milestone when it comes to Armenia-Azerbaijan normalization, but also strengthening of the Armenia-US strategic partnership.”

He noted three key memoranda of understanding were signed between Armenia and the US, on capacity building for Armenia’s Crossroads of Peace project, cooperation in artificial intelligence and semiconductors, and on energy.

On the Armenia-Azerbaijan agreement, he highlighted that the peace treaty agreed in March had now been initialed. They also signed a letter on the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group, and the joint declaration witnessed by Trump.

Türkiye-Armenia normalization

Kostanyan praised previous statements by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that encouraged Armenia and Azerbaijan to conclude a peace treaty, saying they had “positively” affected normalization talks.

“With yesterday’s event, we see an important milestone and opportunity that we can achieve with Türkiye as well,” he said. “This connectivity project can be feasible and can be much more regionally and globally important if we call communications between Armenia and Turkey are relaunched as well.”

He expressed hope that Ankara would “reciprocate the goodwill of the government of Armenia” by opening the Turkish-Armenian border and establishing diplomatic relations.

“We can achieve another very important milestone for the stability and economic prosperity in our region, meaning that we'll be able to open the border between Armenia and Türkiye and establish diplomatic relations,” he added.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Türkiye was among the first countries to recognize Armenia’s independence on Sept. 21, 1991, but closed its border and severed diplomatic ties in 1993 following Armenia’s occupation of Karabakh. Relations began to thaw after the 2020 Karabakh war, with both sides appointing special envoys to pursue normalization talks.

‘Trump road for peace and prosperity’

One of the key components of Friday’s agreement at the White House summit is the development of what is being called the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP), which will connect mainland Azerbaijan and its Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic exclave.

Kostanyan said the declaration envisions opening regional transportation and communication routes under the sovereignty, jurisdiction and territorial integrity of the states they traverse.

He explained that the project will be developed by Armenia and the US on Armenian territory, enabling regional communications, including a link from southern Armenia through Nakhchivan to other parts of the country.

While the founding principles have been agreed, Kostanyan said technical and working-level discussions on the project’s modalities will follow.​​​​​​​