President Aliyev praises Trump's role in Azerbaijan-Armenia peace process

President Ilham Aliyev praised U.S. President Donald Trump for his role in advancing peace negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, saying Washington's engagement under Trump's leadership helped make an agreement possible.

Speaking at the opening of the 4th Shusha Global Media Forum, Aliyev said Trump's approach to international conflicts differed significantly from that of previous U.S. administrations, Caliber.Az reports, citing local media.

"President Trump's approach was quite different. He is a person who loves peace, a person who brings peace to many destinations, as he himself tells he brought peace to eight conflicts, and this is his character. This is his vision and his policy,” President Ilham Aliyev said.

The Azerbaijani president said Trump's involvement came at a decisive moment in negotiations between Baku and Yerevan.

"So, in our case, his role was very important when Azerbaijan and Armenia were in the final stage of negotiations on a peace agreement. President Trump and his team they stepped in, and they created such a framework that peace became possible.”

Aliyev also contrasted Trump's policies with those of earlier U.S. administrations, criticising their handling of the decades-long Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict.

“There's a big difference from what President Trump was doing and is doing, and his predecessors,” President Ilham Aliyev said at the forum.

The head of state added: “because unfortunately during the times of occupation, which lasted for almost 30 years, American administrations, along with other co-chairs of then OSCE Minsk group, were mainly pursuing the policy of freezing the conflict, not liberating Azerbaijani territory based on resolutions of United Nations Security Council, which they themselves adopted. But their target was to freeze the situation and to use it as a leverage on Azerbaijan and also to a certain degree on Armenia.”

By Aghakazim Guliyev