One year after the initialing of the peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the United States has cemented its lasting influence in the South Caucasus.On Aug. 8, 2025, longtime enemies Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met alongside President Donald Trump as newly christened friends, ready to put aside decades of enmity between their nations. A central appeal of this peace deal was the promise of a new dawn of relations with the U.S., which has been realized over the past year.The U.S. and Armenia have struck new deals opening up cooperation regarding artificial intelligence, critical minerals, and nuclear power, while the U.S.-Azerbaijani relationship has expanded to new partnerships across the board.
The Washington Examiner interviewed Armenian Ambassador Narek Mkrtchyan and Azerbaijani Ambassador Khazar Ibrahim just ahead of the anniversary of the historic peace agreement, where each outlined how relations between their countries and the U.S. have grown over the past year.Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, left, and President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, right, shake hands during a Board of Peace meeting at the U.S. Institute of Peace, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
