Armenia and Azerbaijan to ink peace memorandum under Trump mediation  - Middle East Eye 

ArmInfo.  Azerbaijan and Armenia are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding in Washington on Friday, committing to the pursuit of peace, according to regional  sources familiar with the matter who spoke to Middle East Eye.

The sources said that US President Donald Trump will host Azerbaijani  President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at  the White House for the signing ceremony.

Although Armenia and Azerbaijan reached consensus on a draft peace  agreement in March, Baku continues to insist on several additional  conditions before finalising the deal. Chief among Azerbaijan's  demands is that Yerevan amend its constitution to remove references  to Azerbaijani territory, a step that would require a national  referendum in Armenia.

The anticipated White House summit follows a meeting between the two  leaders in Abu Dhabi in July. Following the meeting, Aliyev said both  countries could finalise the text of the agreement, or at least its  main principles, within a few months and then initial them.   "Reaching an agreement on the basic principles, initialing them, and  then working on the text can be an option," Aliyev said, emphasising  that such an approach hinges on Armenia amending its constitution.

Sources added that the two leaders are expected to sign a "letter of  intent" rather than a draft peace agreement, providing Trump with a  diplomatic achievement he has been seeking in the region since last  month.

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov called his Turkish  counterpart Hakan Fidan on Monday to inform him about the summit, a  third regional source told MEE.  Turkish foreign ministry sources  said that Fidan discussed bilateral and regional issues with  Bayramov. 

MEE has reached out to both Armenian and Azerbaijani governments for  comment.

One of the main sticking points remains the so-called Zangezur  Corridor, which would link mainland Azerbaijan to its exclave,  Nakhchivan, through Armenian territory. Armenia rejects the term  Zangezur Corridor, arguing that it carries irredentist implications  for its sovereign territory, known as Syunik.

Last month, US Ambassador Thomas Barrack officially proposed that an  American company could lease and operate the corridor for 100 years,  aiming to address the concerns of both sides over security and  reliability of the transport route. However, Armenia rejected the  proposal, stating it would not lease its sovereign territory to any  third country.

A regional source familiar with the negotiations told MEE that Turkey  initially suggested the idea of a private company, approved by both  Armenia and Azerbaijan, managing the corridor.

"However, the Armenian side demanded that the company also operate on  the Nakhchivan side of the corridor, which was unacceptable to Baku,"  the source explained.  The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan  dates back to the 1993 Nagorno-Karabakh war, when Armenian forces  seized the disputed enclave - recognised by the United Nations as  Azerbaijani territory, following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

After a bloody six-week war in late 2020, Azerbaijan launched a  military operation in September 2023 to retake Nagorno-Karabakh,  resulting in a ceasefire agreement. Most ethnic Armenians fled, and  the breakaway region was officially dissolved on 1 January 2024.

On July 19, 2025, US President Donald Trump said that Armenia and  Azerbaijan are "pretty close" to a peace deal.

Speaking at a White House dinner with GOP senators, Trump listed his  administration's achievements in settling conflicts globally and also  mentioned Armenia-Azerbaijan, emphasizing that the United States  "worked magic there."

"Armenia and Azerbaijan, we worked magic there. And, it's pretty  close. If not, it's already done," Trump said in televised remarks.