The handshake between Ilham Aliyev and Nikol Pashinyan signaled an intention to end decades of hostilities with a formal peace treaty. Nagorno-Karabakh was the focal point of prolonged conflict and the 2023 war produced Azerbaijan's victory and the near-total departure of over 100,000 Armenian residents. Donald Trump acted as mediator and pledged US corporate guarantees for infrastructure and security of a 99-year corridor linking Azerbaijan to its Nakhichevan exclave across Armenian territory. The prominent US role is read by many as evidence of waning Russian influence in parts of the former Soviet Union, despite Moscows official welcome and critical voices calling the outcome humiliating.
The handshake between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan earlier this month sealed their intention to end decades of conflict with a peace treaty. For years, their two countries had fought bitterly for control of Nagorno-Karabakh, a historically Armenian-populated region within Azerbaijan. The war ended in 2023, with Azerbaijan's victory and the mass exodus of almost all of the more than 100,000-strong Armenian population.
He promised that US companies would guarantee the infrastructure and security of a corridor to connect the main part of Azerbaijan with another part of its territory the autonomous exclave of Nakhichevan by crossing Armenian territory, for 99 years. Is Russia's influence in the former Soviet Union waning? The US involvement in the peace deal is possibly the most visible sign yet of Russia's waning influence in parts of the former Soviet Union.
Officially, Russia welcomed the news. "We have consistently supported all the efforts to help achieve this goal that is key to regional security. In this context the US-brokered meeting in Washington of the leaders of the South Caucasus republics deserves a positive assessment," said Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova. "We hope this step will help advance the peace agenda."
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