Baku: Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev recently addressed the implications of former U.S. President Donald Trump’s electoral win on the peace agreement process with Armenia. Speaking at the 3rd Shusha Global Media Forum, Aliyev highlighted Azerbaijan’s initiative in beginning the peace process post the Second Karabakh War.

According to Azeri-Press News Agency, President Aliyev explained that Azerbaijan had prepared a draft of the peace agreement and sent it to Armenia for consideration. However, progress was stalled for two years due to Armenia’s insistence on including the “Nagorno-Karabakh” issue in the treaty text. Aliyev stated that Armenia’s claims were unfounded as the region is part of Azerbaijan and is considered an internal political matter.

Aliyev noted that significant progress was made only after Azerbaijan’s anti-terror operation in September 2022, which led Armenia to drop its demands regarding Nagorno-Karabakh in the agreement. He further detailed that while negotiations began in earnest in January 2024, Armenia initially resisted accepting the last two clauses of the peace agreement.

The Azerbaijani President mentioned that Armenia’s stance shifted following Trump’s victory. He remarked that Armenia added the two contentious provisions after the election results, suggesting they had anticipated a different outcome. The unresolved clauses pertain to the non-deployment of third-country forces on the border and the mutual renunciation of international court claims between the two nations.

Aliyev expressed confidence that the peace agreement is nearing completion and emphasized the importance of initialing the document, which involves having signatures at the end of each page, as a precursor to formal signing. He warned that any attempt by Armenia to renegotiate would signal an unwillingness for peace, urging them to finalize their commitments to enable a significant regional development.