U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in an interview with journalist Raymond Arroyo, discussed the planned trilateral meeting between the leaders of Armenia, the United States, and Azerbaijan — Nikol Pashinyan, Donald Trump, and Ilham Aliyev.
“I hope that today we will lay the foundation for a peace agreement,” he said, according to Radar Armenia.
Rubio said that President Trump is committed to the principle of peace, calling him a “president of peace,” as stated on the U.S. State Department’s website.
He noted that when the India-Pakistan conflict escalated, the United States immediately intervened and the president succeeded in securing peace in that matter. Rubio also mentioned the U.S. role in resolving the Cambodia-Thailand dispute, expressing hope for progress in the Armenia-Azerbaijan situation and adding that an agreement is planned to be signed, marking the start of a peace process.
He further highlighted U.S. mediation in the long-standing conflict between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda — a 30-year war that claimed seven million lives — noting that the parties were able to sign a peace agreement in the United States. Rubio stressed that peace should never be taken for granted and requires constant work.
On August 8, U.S. President Donald Trump will host Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at the White House. Separate meetings will be followed by a trilateral session. Trump has said that Pashinyan and Aliyev will officially sign a peace accord, along with other documents.
