Azerbaijani journalist provides details of documents to be signed in  Washington

ArmInfo.  In a dramatic diplomatic push to end a decades-long conflict, U.S. President Donald Trump is set to host the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan at the  White House on Friday. The summit, a culmination of months of  intense, behind-the-scenes negotiations, is poised to reshape the  geopolitical landscape of the South Caucasus and anchor the U.S. as a  central player in a region long dominated by Russia and Iran. Ahead  of the White House peace summit, Kyiv Post's Washington correspondent  Alex Raufoglu spoke with multiple U.S. officials  in the background  about the key developments and details surrounding the peace draft.

The centerpiece of the agreement is a new commercial and  infrastructure project dubbed the "Trump Route for International  Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP). This innovative framework is designed  to resolve the most contentious issue between the two nations:   connectivity. TRIPP will establish a transit route through southern  Armenia, providing  unimpeded access  for Azerbaijan to its enclave  of Nakhchivan. Crucially, U.S. officials, briefing Kyiv Post on the  condition of anonymity, said  that the route will maintain Armenia's  "sovereignty, territorial integrity, and jurisdiction." TRIPP is not  a military or defense initiative.  Officials were clear that the U.S.  is not providing a  "hard security guarantees" or deploying troops to  the route. U.S. involvement will be purely commercial, with the U.S.   taking on the  responsibility to ensure the route "operates safely  for all parties" through agreements with "top-class operators." 

According to Raufoglu, the summit represents a significant departure  from previous, largely stalled, mediation efforts.  According to  senior US officials, the path to this moment began with Trump's  special envoy Steve Witkoff's trip to Baku in late February, where  a   "meaningful bond" was formed with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.  This opened the door for a series of five additional visits to the  region by US officials, who found a shared belief among both Armenian  and Azerbaijani leaders that "this is the moment and this is the  leader." The officials emphasized that the current geopolitical  climate, with both Russia and Iran distracted by other global  challenges, created a unique opportunity for both countries to take a  "courageous step" toward peace. 

On Friday, Aug. 8, Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol  Pashinyan will sign several pivotal documents at the White House,  witnessed by President Trump, according to officials: Joint  declaration: This will formalize a "concrete pathway to peace" and  full normalization of relations, which officials described as being  "as close to irreversible as possible." Initialing a peace agreement:  The foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia will initial the text  of a bilateral peace agreement that has been under negotiation for  months. Joint letter to exit the Minsk Group: Both countries will  formally withdraw from the OSCE Minsk Group, a mediation platform  that has been deemed "not helpful" and in need of a fresh approach.