Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has shared signed photos he said he received as a gift from US President Donald Trump. The photos, which were taken at the the historical trilateral meeting in Washington earlier this month with Trump, Aliyev, and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, also contained Trump’s handwritten notes saying, ‘Ilham you are great’, and ‘Ilham you are a great leader Donald’.
In a post on X, Aliyev said ‘I express my deep gratitude to President Donald Trump for the historic photos he kindly gifted me with his personal signature, as well as for the warm words he inscribed’.
‘I greatly appreciate President Trump’s steadfast support for the normalisation of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia and for advancing the peace agenda between the two countries and globally. I would like to once again extend my sincere thanks to him for these efforts’.
The signed photos were shared widely in Azerbaijani media and official sources.
It is unclear if Pashinyan received similar signed photos, as there has been no updates from the Armenian side as of publication.
The White House meeting earlier in August resulted in both Aliyev and Pashinyan signing a seven-point declaration enshrining the progress towards peace, as well as initialling a 17-part peace deal. Nonetheless, the peace agreement remains unsigned officially, as Azerbaijan has demanded that Armenia change its constitution as a precondition. It is unknown when the peace treaty will ultimately be inked.
Perhaps the most tangible outcome of the meeting was the announcement of a plan, dubbed the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP), to connect Azerbaijan to its exclave of Nakhchivan, through Armenian territory. The route is intended to be managed by a yet-unnamed US company.
Both Pashinyan and Aliyev said they would nominate Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize, something he has long openly coveted.
Nate Ostiller
