U.S. Vice President JD Vance will travel to Armenia and Azerbaijan in February as part of Washington’s efforts to consolidate a U.S.-brokered peace agreement that ended decades of conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh last year, President Donald Trump announced on Friday.
The visit is intended to reinforce the August 2025 agreement, reached through U.S. mediation, and to advance what the White House has described as Trump’s “international peace and prosperity route,” a broader initiative linking diplomacy, regional connectivity, and economic development.
At the centre of the deal is a new transit corridor connecting Azerbaijan to its Nakhchivan exclave through Armenian territory. Under the agreement, the United States was granted development rights along the corridor, giving American companies a central role in infrastructure, logistics, and commercial projects tied to the route.
According to the White House, the corridor is designed to boost regional trade while anchoring long-term stability between the two former adversaries. Trump said Vance’s visit would focus on deepening Washington’s strategic partnership with Azerbaijan and expanding economic and energy cooperation with Armenia, including peaceful nuclear collaboration.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Armenia has agreed to transfer nearly three-quarters of its development rights related to the corridor to the United States, calling the arrangement “a model for the world” in linking peace agreements with shared economic interests.
The State Department also noted that Azerbaijan has recently delivered fuel shipments to Armenia, describing the move as a sign of continued commitment to implementing the agreement and normalising relations after last summer’s breakthrough.
The February trip will mark the most senior U.S. visit to the region since the accord was signed.
