The meetings held in Washington in August 2025, one year ago, not only laid the foundation for a new stage in Azerbaijan-U.S. relations, but were also marked by important developments in the Azerbaijan-Armenia peace agenda.

Washington visit and first meeting

On August 7, 2025, President Ilham Aliyev paid a working visit to Washington at the invitation of U.S. President Donald Trump.

On the first day of the visit, President Ilham Aliyev met with U.S. Presidential Special Envoy Steve Witkoff. Before the meeting, a Memorandum of Cooperation was signed between SOCAR and ExxonMobil in the presence of President Ilham Aliyev and Steve Witkoff.

August 8: White House meeting and strategic partnership mechanism

On August 8, President Ilham Aliyev arrived at the White House, where he was received by U.S. President Donald Trump. Following the meeting between the presidents, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed on establishing a Strategic Working Group to prepare a Charter on Strategic Partnership between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the United States.

The heads of state then continued their discussions. Donald Trump presented President Ilham Aliyev with the symbolic key to the White House.

Waiver of Section 907

Another important outcome of the Washington meeting was the signing by the U.S. president of an executive order on the waiver of the Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act with respect to Azerbaijan. Thus, the restriction that had been applied to Azerbaijan since 1992 was suspended.

Important steps in the Azerbaijan-Armenia peace agenda

On the same day, a meeting was held with the participation of President Ilham Aliyev, U.S. President Donald Trump and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

As part of the meeting, the agreed text of the draft "Agreement on the Establishment of Peace and Interstate Relations between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia" was initialed. At the same time, a joint appeal to the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office was signed on the closure of the OSCE Minsk Process and related structures.

President Ilham Aliyev and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan then signed a Joint Declaration in the presence of U.S. President Donald Trump.

The document noted the mutual benefits of ensuring unobstructed connectivity between mainland Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, as well as creating international and domestic connectivity opportunities for Armenia.

The leaders also made statements to the press.

Outcome of the visit

On August 8, President Ilham Aliyev gave an interview to Azerbaijani media representatives in Washington. In the interview, the head of state assessed the outcomes of his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, the significance of the document on establishing a Strategic Working Group to prepare the Charter on Strategic Partnership, and other results of the visit.

One year later

The meetings held in Washington on August 7-8, 2025, marked an important stage in establishing the institutional foundations of strategic partnership in Azerbaijan-U.S. relations, reaching important political agreements within the Azerbaijan-Armenia peace agenda, and creating a new political framework for opening regional communications in the South Caucasus.

Within a year, one of the main directions of this agenda moved to the next stage. The signing of the Charter on Strategic Partnership between Azerbaijan and the United States on February 10, 2026, constituted a continuation of the process launched in Washington.

Thus, the Washington meeting of August 8, 2025, went down in history not merely as two days of diplomatic contacts, but as an important political stage that influenced the subsequent development of Azerbaijan-U.S. relations and the peace agenda in the South Caucasus.