[Field Story] Armenia-Azerbaijan to Sign Peace Agreement with Trump’s Mediation

As US President Donald Trump recently called for an end to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan that has continued for 30 years since the collapse of the former Soviet Union, it seems that a peace agreement between the conflicting countries will be reached soon.

According to Kazinform, a Kazakhstani media outlet, on the 19th (local time), President Trump said at an official dinner with US Republican senators held at the White House on the same day that the peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan was almost completed.

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President Trump’s remarks on this day were made a few days after he mentioned during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the White House on the 14th that the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan would be successfully resolved in the near future.

Armenia previously lost part of its territory in the 2023 conflict with Azerbaijan. Russia, which had been acting as a mediator between the two countries, sided with Azerbaijan and gave up the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.

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Several local media outlets, including Politic Central Asia, cited the so-called "Zangezur Corridor" connecting Central Asia and Europe as the reason for President Trump's interest in the Armenian-Azerbaijan peace agreement.

The Zangezur Corridor is a railway that connects Azerbaijan to Turkiye and Iran after passing through Armenian territory, and considering the Caspian Sea's transport capacity, it is virtually evaluated as a key railway route connecting China, Central Asia, and Europe.

In particular, it was actually operated during the former Soviet Union and its economic feasibility was already proven, but it has been suspended until today due to the armed conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan that has continued since the collapse of the former Soviet Union.

Armenia wanted to restore the route, but it had been delaying negotiations with Azerbaijan due to lack of trust in Russia. Then, during the first Trump administration, the United States proposed to Armenia to lease key areas of the Zangezur Corridor, including the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, for 100 years, and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan positively reviewed this, which seems to have led to progress in negotiations between the two countries.

In an interview with a media outlet on the 15th, U.S. Ambassador to Turkiye Tom Barrack stated that in order to normalize relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, he was considering signing a 100-year lease agreement for the Zangezur Corridor and taking over control of the strategic railway line connecting the key areas.

However, when the issue of the 100-year lease for the Zangezur Corridor became an issue, Armenian Press Secretary to the Prime Minister Nazeli Baghdasaryan drew the line, saying that he would not transfer control of his country’s territory to a third country.

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Source: Asia Today

“And he said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light." (Mark 4:21-22)

God, we recently heard news that US President Donald Trump is demanding an end to the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan that has lasted for about 30 years and that a peace agreement is almost complete.

Let us put aside the history of the conflict between the Azerbaijani and Armenian peoples for a moment and pray that God will grant true peace amidst the great desire to reconnect the Zangezur Corridor through a peace agreement and secure economic interests.