The United States and Azerbaijan signed a new strategic partnership agreement in Baku on Tuesday, broadening economic and security cooperation as Washington seeks to strengthen its presence in the South Caucasus. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev formalised the accord with US Vice President JD Vance, who visited the country after holding talks in neighbouring Armenia.
Aliyev said the agreement marked "an entirely new phase" in bilateral ties, highlighting cooperation in defence sales, artificial intelligence, energy security and counter-terrorism. Vance said the United States would provide Azerbaijan with an unspecified number of ships to help protect its territorial waters. The partnership builds on discussions held in Washington last year, when Azerbaijan and Armenia reached a US-brokered peace framework aimed at ending decades of conflict.
During his regional tour, Vance has also promoted a proposed 43-kilometre transit corridor linking Azerbaijan to its exclave of Nakhchivan through Armenian territory, a project Washington says could boost trade between Asia and Europe while reducing reliance on Russian routes. While Armenia and Azerbaijan have taken steps toward normalising relations, a comprehensive peace treaty has yet to be signed, leaving the long-running dispute not fully resolved...