Donald Trump gets a lot wrong – but this is one he got 100% right | World | News

Love him or hate him, you can’t blame President Donald Trump for sticking to the truth.

But perhaps the US leader’s most obvious fantasy was to call himself the “President of Peace.” The White House and State Department regularly release communications trumpeting all the wars he claims are over. These include – among many others – Thailand and Cambodia (still violent), the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda (ongoing), and Israel and Iran (Trump dragged his own country and the entire Gulf into it and appears to have negotiated the world’s first “ceasefire” in which both sides are allowed to continue attacking each other).

However, even a broken clock shows the correct time twice a day. Although it may not guarantee the warmongering president the Nobel Peace Prize he covets, one peace treaty from which he can claim to gain at least some credibility is between former Soviet bloc countries Azerbaijan and Armenia. In this rare case, a fragile peace actually appears to persist.

The two neighboring countries in the South Caucasus have been locked in a frozen conflict since the collapse of the Soviet Union over a piece of territory internationally recognized as belonging to Azerbaijan but illegally occupied militarily by ethnic Armenians.

A tortuous peace process began in 2023 after a blitzkrieg in which Azerbaijan regained its territory. While not in charge of the actual peace process (which was already in motion) as he claimed, Trump served as an undeniable catalyst, hosting both sides at the White House to sign a peace agreement and setting in motion plans to build a transportation corridor that would connect the isolated but energy-rich region to Europe and beyond.

With typical Trumpian modesty, this should be called the “Trump Route to International Peace and Prosperity.”

This is no small feat. Azerbaijan and Armenia have been at each other’s throats for nearly three decades, and a lasting peace between the two would be a boon for everyone.

This would be good for Armenia, which has hitherto been isolated from the rest of the world and completely dependent on Russia for its security and economy. This would be good for Azerbaijan, a long-time ally of Britain and the West (and very keen to step up as our alternative energy supplier to Russia). And it would be good for the rest of the world, especially Europe and Britain, to open up new transport and energy routes that bypass both Russia and Iran, at a time when these routes are sorely lacking and our energy security is at an all-time low, thanks to Ed Miliband’s obsession with green energy.

Predictably, only one side opposes peace in the South Caucasus: Russia.

Putin’s dominance over Armenia and other smaller countries in his backyard has been the source of his power and influence. But now tired of his threats, warmongering and broken promises, and aware of the horrors still inflicted on the former Soviet state of Ukraine, these countries are beginning to liberate.

Already a Western ally, Azerbaijan asserts itself as the dominant regional power. Armenia, previously a Russian client state, is openly turning its back on the Kremlin and actively deepening its ties with the European Union. Even Georgia, led by the pro-Kremlin Georgian Dream party, has refrained from reestablishing diplomatic ties with Russia. All of this is possible with a more peaceful and stable South Caucasus.

So that’s a phrase you don’t often hear, congratulations Donald.

It goes without saying that this Westward-looking, Europe-embracing zeitgeist is something that Britain and those in favor of Western freedom and democracy should encourage, not hinder. A weakened Russia and a stronger, freer, more stable South Caucasus are clearly in our national energy and security interests.

But prominent Azerbaijani voices worry that some British parliamentarians are doing the work of Kremlin propagandists.

Last month, British parliamentarians held an “inquiry” into Azerbaijan’s alleged destruction of Armenian cultural heritage in territory it regained in the last war. I put “investigation” in quotes because it wasn’t actually an investigation. It was completely one-sided; All those asked to provide evidence were defending Armenian and Russian interests, and not a single Azerbaijani was involved. In other words, it had no procedural validity and was completely contrary to UK government policy.

Among those called to testify was Luis Moreno Ocampo, former Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. Ocampo was recently secretly recorded in the Azerbaijani media, allegedly discussing receiving funding from “rich” Russian Armenians.

These days, Ocampo has a lucrative streak in consulting and advocacy for wealthy clients, including a Libyan billionaire with ties to the former Gaddafi regime and the former Russia-backed leader of “Artsakh”, whose lands were occupied by Armenians occupying Azerbaijani territory that was originally the source of the Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict, according to the respected German investigative publication Der Spiegel. In this second assignment, Ocampo was commissioned by the then illegitimate leader of “Artsakh” to write a report accusing Azerbaijan of genocide; this report has since been discredited by British lawyers and genocide experts as “fundamentally flawed” and “failed”.[ing] conduct a rational and balanced analysis of the available evidence; “It’s more about accusing someone by name, perhaps for the sake of making headlines.”

Many pro-Azerbaijani commentators have claimed that the main purpose of this intriguing UK-led investigation, which comes shortly before Armenia goes to the polls to elect its prime minister next month, is to “make headlines”. The contest includes incumbent prime minister Nikol Pashinyan, who seeks peace with Azerbaijan, freedom from Russia and closer ties with the West. He faces three pro-Russian opposition parties that oppose concessions to Azerbaijan on ideological grounds and want to bring Armenia back into the Kremlin’s fold. For them, this British “investigation” is a gift.