The November 2025 edition of the IRMO Brief, authored by Gulkhanim Mammadova and Krševan Antun Dujmović, deals with the Washington Joint Declaration signed on 8 August 2025. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met in Washington under the auspices of U.S. President Donald Trump. For Washington, the declaration represents a reassertion of influence in a region where U.S. presence has long been low. The declaration also called for the reopening of communications and transit links, and introduced the agreement on the Zangezur Corridor, rebranded in Washington as the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP). This corridor will connect mainland Azerbaijan to its Nakhchivan exclave via southern Armenia’s Syunik province. The authors also analyse how war in Ukraine that has disrupted northern transit routes through Russia and with China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) facing resistance in the West, the South Caucasus has become a vital transport and logistics hub.
Washington Joint Declaration Between Armenia and Azerbaijan and Its Implications
