A bipartisan delegation of US politicians, led by Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin, has met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and other key advisors in Baku. The choice of Mullin as the highest-ranking member of the group has prompted speculation, as he is known for being the primary opponent of the MEGOBARI Act, a piece of legislation that would increase sanctions on the ruling Georgian Dream government.
According to an official Azerbaijani readout of the meeting, the talks focused on the peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well as the role of President Donald Trump in facilitating the Washington agreement, which Aliyev described as ‘historic’.
The August meeting in Washington brought together Trump, Aliyev, and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, and resulted in the initialling of a peace treaty and an agreement to create a transit route from Azerbaijan to its exclave of Nakhchivan through Armenia, named TRIPP, or the Trump Route.
Aliyev emphasised to the delegation that trade between Armenia and Azerbaijan has already begun.
In addition, Aliyev referenced a decades-old piece of US legislation that forbids Washington from providing direct assistance to Azerbaijan — Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act — saying it was ‘unjust’ and ‘does not correspond to the essence of the current development of relations between the two countries’.
Trump authorised Section 907 to be temporarily waived as part of the Washington agreements, but not fully removed, which can only be done by an act of Congress. In December, Republican Representative Anna Paulina Luna introduced a bill to completely end the restrictions, while an opposing draft bill was then brought to the House later that month.
In the readout, Aliyev said he was hopeful that Section 907 would be ultimately removed.
No official statements or readouts were offered by the American side.
It is unclear why Mullin was chosen as the highest-ranking member of the delegation, and there have been questions raised about what it might mean for Trump’s stance on neighbouring Georgia and its Georgian Dream party.
Mullin has gained attention in Georgia for his repeated blocking of the MEGOBARI Act, which received overwhelming support across party lines in a vote in the House in May 2025, with 349 members of the House voting in favour and 42 voting against.
The act was first introduced by Republican Representative Joe Wilson amidst widespread protests against Georgia’s controversial foreign agent law in May 2024.
Mullin told The Hill in September 2025, after news of his obstruction surfaced, that one of the main reasons he opposes the legislation is that there is a ‘better relationship’ with Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze.
‘I understand kind of where they’re [Georgian Dream] trying to get to. I also understand the direct influence that Russia is having and kind of stirring up disdain, I guess, inside the government’, Mullin said at the time.
Aytan Farhadova
