The United States has told Azerbaijan to finalize a peace deal with Armenia and release all prisoners, as a way to make the region secure.
U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, in a post on X on Sunday, announced that he had conveyed that message to Azerbaijan’s presidential advisor Hikmet Hajiyev during a conversation.
“Conflict in the South Caucasus must end,” Waltz posted. “I spoke this week with Mr. Hikmet Hajiyev, the national security advisor for President Aliyev in Azerbaijan.”
“We are pleased Azerbaijan and Armenia have taken a big step forward and agreed to a peace treaty. I told him we should finalize this peace deal now, release the prisoners, and work together to make the region more secure and prosperous,” the U.S. official said.
“America’s Golden Age will bring peace and prosperity to the world, and we won’t stop working until that happens,” he added.
Armenia and Azerbaijan announced last week that they had come to an agreement on the final two points of contention in the draft language of a peace treaty, with Yerevan saying that the document is ready to be signed. Baku, on the other hand, said that Armenia’s constitution must be changed before the signing of the treaty, a point rejected over the weekend by Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan.
Soon after the announcement was made by Yerevan and Baku, Secretary of State Marco Rubio praised the two sides for advancing the process.
“This is an opportunity for both countries to turn the page on a decades old conflict in line with President Trump’s vision for a more peaceful world. Now is the time to commit to peace, sign and ratify the treaty, and usher in a new era of prosperity for the people of the South Caucasus,” Rubio said.
The Armenian National Committee of America deemed Rubio’s statement premature, saying that there were many obstacles still remaining for enduring peace.
“The ANCA seeks a real peace – a just and enduring peace that respects the rights of the Armenian nation & ensures the return of Armenians to Artsakh – not a fake “peace” – a one-sided surrender of Armenian security and sovereignty forced on Yerevan at the point of a gun,” the ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian said in a statement last week.
Garen Jenser, the American attorney representing former Artsakh State Minister Ruben Vardanyan, welcomed Waltz’s post.
“Thank you NSA Mike Waltz and President Donald Trump for your commitment to peace in the Caucausus and for not just a peace treaty to be signed but for the release of the Armenian Christian political prisoners in Azerbaijan, including my client, RubenVardanyan,” Jenser said in post on X on Sunday.
