South Caucasus

The meeting of president Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, and prime minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia in the White House on 8 August 2025 has been described many times as being “historic”, and in many ways it was. However the presence and active participation of the president of the United States made it “special”. However, Donald Trump managed to make the event “larger than life”. Trump was on his best behaviour. He was relaxed and happy. He piled profuse compliments on his two guests, and they replied in kind, indulging in flattery that at times was embarrassing. But you can excuse them. Never have two foreign leaders been so warmly welcomed in the White House. The substance was thin: the peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan was initialed but not signed; much of what was included in the Joint Declaration was aspirational, requiring further negotiations. But the symbolism and imagery was powerful. And in this case, it mattered. The world has scrambled to welcome the Armenia-Azerbaijan meeting in Washington. The European Union was first: Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and Council president, Antonio Costa, issued a statement within minutes. Various other EU personalities followed on Saturday. There was an important statement by Turkey, followed by UK, Netherlands, Georgia, Saudi Arabia, Poland, UAE, France, Israel, the Central Asian countries and others. Statements were also issued by the UN, NATO, OSCE, Council of Europe, NATO PA and others. The reaction from Russia came late on Saturday and was muffled.