Remarks Prior to a Signing Ceremony With President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia and an Exchange With Reporters

President Trump. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. It's a great honor. Thank you.

It's a long time—35 years—they fought, and now they're friends, and they're going to be friends for a long time.

But it's a big, beautiful honor to welcome everyone to the White House for this very historic peace summit between Armenia and Azerbaijan. It's really a great thrill for me. I love seeing good people get together, and that's what you have. You have two great leaders.

I want to congratulate these two visionary people, Prime Minister Pashinyan and President Aliyev, for coming to Washington to sign this momentous joint declaration. It's a tremendously important document, and it's been a long time in coming. They were explaining before that so many times they thought they could get there. It never happened. It just never happened.

I also want to thank Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, and their teams at the State Department. And I see that we have Chris Wright outside and Senator Steve Daines sitting right here. Thank you, Chris. Thank you very much. And, Steve, thank you very much.

And we have some other wonderful dignitaries, including the dignitaries from your country. But they've provided tremendous diplomatic assistance.

And, Marco, congratulations. This is a big thing. Keep going. He's got many jobs. And then, of course, you would say Steve was quite influential. I call him "Henry Kissinger who doesn't leak." [Laughter]

For more than 35 years, Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought a bitter conflict that resultered [resulted; White House correction] in tremendous suffering for both nations. They suffered gravely for so many years. Many tried to find a resolution, including the European Union. The Russians worked very hard on it. Never happened. Sleepy Joe Biden tried, but you know what happened there. He tried for probably 12 minutes, and it didn't work out. [Laughter] And many other countries tried, and they were unsuccessful.

But with this accord, we've finally succeeded in making peace, and we just left the Oval Office, where we signed voluminous documents and very important elements to the agreement.

The country of Armenia and Azerbaijan are committing to stop all fighting forever; open up commerce, travel, and diplomatic relations; and respect each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity, so importantly.

And I just spent a lot of time with these two men. I think they're going to have a great relationship—you want to know the truth. They didn't see each other that much, but they probably will. I think they're going to have—I think you two are going to have a great—a great relationship. I have no doubt. And if you don't, call me, and I'll straighten it out. Okay? [Laughter]

Very importantly, we have also resolved the key issue that foiled previous negotiations. This declaration establishes what they are calling—a great honor for me; I didn't ask for this—the "Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity," which is a special transit area that will allow Azerbaijan to get full access to its territory of Nakhchivan while fully respecting Armenia's sovereignty. So they're going to be able to really live and work together, and it's amazing.

So that's a very important territory. I guess, very special territory to you and to you, and now they work it together.

Armenia is also creating an exclusive partnership with the United States to develop this corridor, which could extend for up to 99 years. And then they promise, in 99 years, they'll extend it. Right? [Laughter] You'll promise.

But we anticipate significate infrastructure development by American companies. They're very anxious to go in to these two countries, and they're going to spend a lot of money—a lot of money—which will economically benefit all three of our nations.

This is incredibly positive news for the future of the entire region. And it's a very important region, as you know.

Additionally, the U.S. is signing a bilateral agreement with both countries to expand cooperation in energy, trade, and technology, including AI. And in terms of energy, Chris is here representing our country, and there's nobody better than Chris Wright.

And, Chris, I understand it's very fertile. It's a very fertile area. So I appreciate everything you've done. You've done amazingly well. You've got—we've got the gasoline prices coming way down from where they were, and it's really been something to watch.

We are drilling like we haven't drilled in many years—I guess I could say ever before. And we just started.

We're also lifting restrictions on defense cooperation between Azerbaijan and the United States of America. The President—that's a big deal, unless—is that important to you? I think so. [Laughter] That was pretty good. That's—they were very happy about that. So am I.

As President, my highest aspiration is to bring peace and stability to the world. Today's signing follows our success with India and Pakistan. They were going at it. They were going at it big, and they were great—two great leaders that came together just prior to what would've been a tremendous conflict, as you know—a nuclear conflict, probably.

Also, the Congo and Rwanda. No, that was one where—which was going on for 31 years. You have them beat. Thirty-five years. You had them beat. [Laughter] But that was going on for 31 years, and we have it all done. And people are very happy. That was a rough one. That was nasty. Seven million people—that they know of—died.

Also, just recently, Thailand and Cambodia. That was one that was just starting. That—2,000 people were dead on the border, but it was just starting. And I was talking to one of the two nations on trade, and I said, "I'm not going to sign a trade deal if you guys are going to fight." And I got the other one. And, again, great leadership—Thailand and Cambodia.

And before it got started, beyond that first couple of days, we stopped the war. And they've had wars periodically, very—much as you two have had long-term wars. And we got it stopped. And we—the two—again, I find, in all cases, they're great leaders. If they didn't agree, I would say they're lousy leaders, to be honest with you. But they did agree.

And so Thailand and Cambodia.

Serbia and Kosovo, we got something stopped that was ready to start. We didn't like that one. We didn't like it at all. And we got—saved a lot of lives. And numerous others.

In addition, as you know, we took out the nuclear capability of Iran. And to use a term that people tried to dispute without any knowledge, it was "obliterated." That's been confirmed by the Atomic Energy Commissions. Everybody that saw—totally obliterated. They might try again, but they're going to have to try a new site, because they are—and I want to just say, our military—we have the greatest military in the world. We have the greatest equipment and military manufacturing anywhere in the world. Nobody even close. And that sort of proved it.

So getting rid of that threat from the Middle East was very big. And I think a lot of people are going to be joining, right now, the Abraham Accords. It's going to be very important. So, hopefully, we're going to have many more successes. I hope we're not going to have too many more in this field, because, hopefully, we're not going to be seeing too many more wars.

But we just—I came in and this whole world was on fire. All these things were sort of happening. We've only been here for 6 months. The world was on fire. We took care of just about every fire. And we're working on another one that you're reporting on very strongly with Russia-Ukraine. And we'll have some more information for you a little bit later.

But I want to ask these two very special people—again, I've gotten to know them. They're very special people, and I think they have the potential to have a great personal relationship, which is always good, but also a great just relationship.

And if I might, may I ask you to say a few words, sir.

President Aliyev. Thank you very much, Mr. President. First of all, thank you for invitation. It's a big honor to be invited by the President of United States for this historic event.

Actually, we are writing a new history in bilateral interstate relationship between United States and Azerbaijan. We are starting the path towards strategic partnership. The charter on strategic partnership will be elaborated within several months, and that is a historic achievement for Azerbaijan, because to be in the format of strategic partnership with the greatest country of the world is a great opportunity and also very big responsibility.

And this strategic partnership format embraces so many important areas: mutual investment, trade, energy, connectivity, transit, AI, defense sales, counterterrorism. So all these areas where we had and hopefully will have a very active cooperation in the future.

So it opens a lot of opportunities for Azerbaijan to continue its path of development, to diversify its economy, to keep unemployment low, as it is today, and to look to the future with great optimism.

Also, I'm very grateful to Mr. President that he today lifted the restrictions which been imposed on Azerbaijan back in 1992. Just only 1 month—1 year after Azerbaijan restored its independence, these restrictions have been imposed on us. So, after 33 years, these restrictions have been lifted just today.

So, really, it's a day which will be remembered by the people of Azerbaijan with a feeling of pride and gratitude to President Trump for his attitude to Azerbaijan, for his vision for—not only for our region.

We were exchanging views today, and I said that within several months, he managed to put an end to conflicts in Asia, in Africa, and now in Southern Caucasus—what we could not achieve for more than 30 years. We had to sacrifice lives. We had to fight two very bad wars with a lot of casualties. And if not for President Trump and his team, and our great friend Mr. Witkoff and his team, probably today, Armenia, Azerbaijan would have been again in this endless process of negotiations.

So, really, it's a historic day. We are today establishing peace in the Caucasus, which will open great opportunities, not only for our region.

And as President Trump correctly mentioned, the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, which will create new connectivity lines which will lift the walls and which will create connectivity opportunities for so many countries with investments, with prosperity, with stability.

You know, Azerbaijan and Armenia—we became independent at the same time, as a result of the collapse of the Soviet Union. But at that time already, we were at war. So we lost a lot of years just being preoccupied with wars and occupation and bloodshed.

So, today, historic day also because we bring peace. President Trump brings peace to Caucasus, and we are grateful for that. And I'm sure that Armenia and Azerbaijan will find courage and responsibility to reconcile, and also the people will reconcile. We will turn the page of standoff, confrontation, and bloodshed and provide bright and safe future for our children.

So I'm very happy because today we are writing the great new history. And once again, Mr. President, thank you for all what you are doing for us, for our region, and for the whole world.

President Trump. Thank you very much.

President Aliyev. Thank you.

President Trump. How long have you—you know, they're both—these are both great leaders. How long have you been at—in the leadership position?

President Aliyev. Twenty-two years.

President Trump. Twenty-two years.

President Aliyev. Yes.

President Trump. That's pretty good.

President Aliyev. Yes.

President Trump. That means he's tough and smart. And it's an amazing part of the world.

President Aliyev. Yes.

President Trump. Congratulations.

President Aliyev. Thank you.

President Trump. What a great honor to be involved. Thank you.

President Aliyev. Thank you very much.

President Trump. Please.

Prime Minister Pashinyan. Thank you, Mr. President.

Ladies and gentlemen, today we have reached a significant milestone in Armenia-Azerbaijani relations. We're laying a foundation to write a better story than the one we had in the past.

This breakthrough would be simply not have been possible without President Trump's personal engagement and his resolute commitment to peace in our region.

The initialing of peace agreement will pave the way to end the decades of conflict between our countries and open a new era based on the full respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of each other.

Today's sign—today's declarations, which President Trump personally will sign as well as witness, gives confidence and assurance that we are opening a chapter of peace, prosperity, security, and economic cooperation in the South Caucasus.

In this context, allow me to highlight the agreement on opening transport communications in the region based on the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and jurisdiction. I'm particularly thrilled that, together with the U.S., Armenia will work to bring to life the TRIPP—Trump Road for Peace and Prosperity—connectivity project that will unlock the entire region.

TRIPP will unlock strategic economic opportunities that will create long-term benefits. It will promote infrastructure investment, enhanced regional connectivity, and strengthen U.S. leadership as a champion of conflict resolution.

I want to thank President Trump and his team for brokering this game-changing outcome between Armenia and Azerbaijan. This is a great deal we've achieved today. This is a success for our countries and for our region and a success for the world, because a more peaceful region means a safer world. This is peace through strength in a nutshell.

Mr. President, today's great achievement is yet another testimony to your global leadership and your legacy as a statesman and a peacemaker on the world stage.

Bringing peace requires vision, political courage, and determination. But what is most important is that it requires faith in the cause. As it is said in the Holy Bible, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will [be; White House correction] called children of God." May God enlighten this way.

Thank you. And my congratulations to all of us; President Aliyev, to you; to all of us, colleagues from Azerbaijan, Armenia, United States, and all the people of our region, all the people of our countries; and my congratulations to the world, because, as I said, it will definitely make the world a better place.

Thank you.

President Trump. That's great. Thank you very much. Come on.

Announcer. The President of the United States, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia will now sign the Joint Declaration on the Outcomes of the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity Summit. They——

[At this point, U.S. Chief of Protocol Monica Crowley brought out the documents and placed them before the leaders.]

President Trump. That's really beautiful.

Announcer. ——will sign three copies in English. The President of the United States signs as a witness to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, affirming their path to peace, stability, and prosperity.

We kindly ask that all guests remain seated for the signing of the documents.

[The joint declarations were signed.]

President Trump. That is so great.

And we'll hold up—how about holding up that document? All right?

[The leaders held up the signed documents.]

Well, thank you. This is really a big day. And we have some other big announcements, but I didn't want to make them, because I don't want to do anything that could, even in a little way, overshadow what's taken place today: 35 years of death and hatred, and now it's going to be love and respect and success together. And I didn't really want to do anything that would, in any way, overshadow. I don't think it can be overshadowed, when you're at war and so many people have suffered and so many people have been killed, and now you're going to have great peace.

And I look forward to that corridor, because that corridor sounds—I'm going to have to get over there. I'll bring Senator Daines with me. [Laughter] And we're going to have to get over there, Steve.

So—but this is a really great achievement, and I congratulate you. You're two incredible leaders. You're going to go down in history.

And I've read the whole thing about how long it took, and you thought you were there, and people let you down. And sometimes you probably let people down. Maybe. I don't know how it works. But that's the way it usually does. But this is something that is very, very special.

So I don't want to get in the way of it at all. But we'll take a few questions, maybe at least slightly related, but we have some other things to announce later on in the day.

Peter [Peter Doocy, Fox News], please.

Russia/Ukraine/President Trump's Meeting With President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin of Russia

Q. Related, just because you mentioned the elusive peace in Ukraine.

President Trump. Right.

Q. Who is holding up this Ukraine cease-fire summit? Is it Putin, or is it Zelenskyy?

President Trump. Well, I think it's—that one is—as you know, we've been working on a lot of these deals. We've closed every single one of them all throughout the world, and that's the last of them. And they're losing, Peter, about 6-, maybe even 7,000 soldiers every single week. Russia, as you know, lost almost 25,000 over the last month and a half, and Ukraine lost just a small number fewer. It's a lot of people are dying.

And I think we're getting very close. And we're going to be announcing, later on, we're going to have a meeting with Russia. We'll start off with Russia, and we'll announce a location. I think the location will be a very popular one, for a lot of reasons. But we'll be announcing that a little bit later. I just don't want to do it now because of the importance of what we just did.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine/North Atlantic Treaty Organization

Q. And I completely understand that. Just——

President Trump. Yes, please. Go ahead.

Q. ——a follow-up. Are surprised that Zelenskyy hasn't figured out by now, in years of war, how to deal with you and to deal with Putin without needing permission to make concessions from——

President Trump. Yes.

Q. ——his Parliament or from a national referendum?

President Trump. Well, he's going out and getting what he needs. You know, he's not authorized to do certain things. I said, "Well, you're going to have to get it fast, because, you know, we're getting very close to a deal." And he's doing that, and he's working with the European nations, and they're terrific people, terrific leaders—NATO. And, as you know, I became very friendly with them. They agreed to go from 2 percent to 5 percent. Two percent that they didn't pay to 5 percent that they've already paid. That's trillions of dollars. So, you know, we're working together very closely.

But no, in all fairness to President Zelenskyy, he's getting everything he needs to—to—assuming we get something done. But I'll be meeting very shortly with President Putin. It would have been sooner, but I guess there's security arrangements that, unfortunately, people have to make. Otherwise, I'd do it much quicker. He would too. He'd like to meet as soon as possible. I agree with it. But we'll be announcing that very shortly. Okay? And location.

Yes, please. Please.

President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin of Russia/Ukraine/European Military Aid

Q. Mr. President, with this meeting with Putin, is this Russia's last chance to achieve peace? And do you expect Ukraine to make any type of territorial concession?

President Trump. Yes, I don't like using the term "last chance." Look, it's—you know, look, this is a—two very, very smart people. They've been going at it for—and their predecessors also very smart. They've been going at it for 35 years. It's tough.

And, you know, when those guns start going off, it's awfully tough to get them to stop. It really does. It's a war that should have never happened. It would have never happened if I were President. There was no reason for it. So many people are killed. So much cultural destruction. You look at those magnificent towers, the most beautiful in the world. You know, the spires were considered the most beautiful in the world. They're all in a million pieces, laying on the ground, all obliterated, knocked into a million pieces. So sad.

But millions of people have died. And very, very much set in their ways. A lot of people were set in their ways. But I think we're getting close. I mean, this was not my war. This was Biden's war.

But the European Union has been great. As you know, they're purchasing equipment from us. They're spending—they have a lot of money, and they're spending a lot of money on buying equipment. We're not spending money. We're—but we are supplying them equipment. They're paying for it.

And I think—you know, I think that a lot of things happened recently that would make this go forward. I'm not going to mention anything having to do with India, but maybe that had an impact. But what really had an impact was NATO has stepped up in terms of their spending on—on buying military equipment.

You know, we're in for probably, through Biden and his people, $350 billion—$350 billion. When they hear these numbers, you're saying, "That's a lot of money." Three hundred and fifty billion dollars the United States has spent on that. It should have spent nothing, because it should have never happened—it would have never happened.

And Europe is in for over $100 billion, which is a—it should be the opposite, if we were in for anything. But it should be the opposite. And I will say that Europe has—Europe wants to see peace. The European leaders want to see peace. President Putin, I believe, wants to see peace, and Zelenskyy wants to see peace.

Now, President Zelenskyy has to get all of his—everything he needs, because he's going to have to get ready to sign something. And I think he is working hard to get that done.

Ukrainian Territory

Q. Will Zelenskyy have to give up territory, Mr. President?

President Trump. Well, you're looking at territory that's been fought over for 3½ years with—you know, a lot of Russians have died. A lot of Ukrainians have died. So we're looking at that, but we're actually looking to get some back and some swapping. It's complicated. It's actually nothing easy. It's very complicated.

But we're going to get some back. We're going to get some switched. There'll be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both. And—but we'll be talking about that either later or tomorrow or whatever.

Yes, please.

[Several reporters began asking questions at once.]

Q. Thank you, President Trump.

President Trump. Say it?

Q. If I could ask a question of your guests, and also, of you.

President Trump. Yes.

President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin of Russia/U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steven C. Witkoff

Q. Of the guests, will the Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh be allowed to return? And also, do you have any thoughts on the talk about President Trump winning the Nobel Peace Prize?

And for President Trump, you're working on resolving two other major conflicts. In Gaza, you've spoke of resettling the Gazans. The country of Somaliland has expressed potential interest if you were to diplomatically recognize their independence. Are you inclined to do so?

And also, did President Putin present an award to Mr. Witkoff during their recent visit?

President Trump. He likes Mr. Witkoff, I can tell you that. That's true.

Please, go ahead.

Prime Minister Pashinyan. I think President Trump deserved to have a Nobel Peace Prize, and we will defend that, and we promote for that. And that's obvious.

So—and today's event, I think, is a very bright expression of that. And hopefully, you will invite us to—[laughter].

President Trump. [Inaudible] Front—front row. You'll be front row.

Prime Minister Pashinyan. Yes? Yes.

President Trump. Thank you very much.

Prime Minister Pashinyan. We are in favor.

President Trump. Thank you.

President Aliyev. Can I have a suggestion?

President Trump. Yes.

President Aliyev. So maybe we agree with Prime Minister Pashinyan to send a joint appeal to Nobel Committee to award President Trump with a Nobel Peace Prize because, from the leaders of the countries which were at war for more than three decades, having this historic signature here, it really means a lot. This is tangible result of President Trump's leadership, and no one could have achieved that. There have been many Presidents here since beginning of nineties and the so-called Minsk process—which, by the way, today, we put an end to with my Armenian colleague—started in 1992. So negotiation under the auspices of OSCE continued for more than three decades without any result.

So who, if not President Trump, deserves the Nobel Peace Prize? I don't want to go into the history of some very strange decisions of the Nobel Peace Committee to award the prize for someone who didn't do anything at all—[laughter]—but President Trump, in 6 months, did miracle.

So I think that my Armenian colleague will support it, and judging by the reaction of the audience—[laughter]—I think, as soon as we come back, we will agree to issue a joint letter. And hopefully—and I also join—when President is awarded, we hope that he will——

President Trump. Thank you.

President Aliyev. ——invite us to the ceremony.

President Trump. You certainly will be.

Thank you very much. That's——

Prime Minister Pashinyan. Do we have——

President Trump. That's very nice.

Prime Minister Pashinyan. Do we have draft to sign now? [Laughter]

President Trump. Yes, we'll see what happens. It's—it's really——

President Aliyev. We already like to sign, you know. [Laughter]

President Trump. Thank you very—that's very nice.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Somaliland

Q. President Trump, on Somaliland? On Somaliland?

President Trump. We're looking into that right now. Good question, actually, and another complex one, as you know. But we're working on that right now—Somaliland.

Location of President Trump's Meeting With President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin of Russia

Q. Mr. President. Thank you so much. I wanted to ask you: Have you spoken to Russian President Putin yet? And would you go to Russia or Ukraine? And what exactly would you say to him?

President Trump. We'll be announcing the location in maybe a little while, and I think you'll be very happy. We'll see what happens, right? All we can do is do our best.

We've been working on this one for a long time. This is a very complicated one also. This was extremely complicated, but we made it less complicated, and we had two very brilliant people on my right and my left. They understood what was at stake. I think if it didn't get done now, it might have never gotten done.

So this is the same—very similar with Ukraine. It became more and more complicated as time went on. It was simple at the beginning. Wasn't going to happen. But it became more and more complicated. But I think we're getting close.

Yes, ma'am.

Location of President Trump's Meeting With President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin of Russia

Q. Could it be Italy, the location?

President Trump. Yes. Go ahead, please.

Q. Could the location for the summit be Italy? [Laughter]

President Aliyev. The location. Italy?

Q. The location for the summit with Putin, could it be Italy?

President Trump. Oh. I—will give it to you very soon. I just—honestly, I don't want to do anything—these guys—I don't want to do anything where that's like—because this is a bigger story than a location. A location is good. I'm a real estate person; I know about location. [Laughter] But this—there's nothing to compete with this in terms of what we're doing today. Just it's just such a great achievement for these two—really, they'll go down as great leaders for what they did. I put them together, but what they have been able—and I don't want to do anything.

So we'll talk about it later today. Today. Today. We'll give you a location today.

Foreign Drug Traffickers

Q. And what about the war on the cartels too? You were talking about sending military forces to fight against the drug cartels in Latin America. Do you think it's worth sending our forces—our U.S. forces there to take this on?

President Trump. Cartels where?

Q. In Latin America—Central Latin America.

President Trump. Well, Latin America's got a lot of cartels. They've got a lot of drugs flowing. So, you know, we want to protect our country. We have to protect our country. We haven't been doing it for 4 years, and we love this country, like they love their countries. We have to protect our country.

So, you know, we're playing a tough game, but we'll have more to say about that soon.

Yes, ma'am.

Armenia/Azerbaijan

Q. To the President, I am Vusala from Azerbaijan news agency, Report. So, we are grateful to be here. It's—today, you host a truly historic meeting.

As a person who values diplomacy and global interaction, do you consider the possibility to visiting Azerbaijan? Actually, you mentioned Azerbaijan and Armenia after this meeting.

President Trump. What one?

President Aliyev. To visit our countries. Do you consider to visit one—[inaudible]——

President Trump. Which one do I consider better? [Laughter]

Q. Both, yes.

President Aliyev. Both.

Prime Minister Pashinyan. Both.

President Aliyev. Both.

President Trump. Oh, I think if I ever said that, you would say, "This guy couldn't have solved the problem."

You know what? I consider them both great. Okay? And you know what? They're going to be even greater. But—and they're very different in many ways, but they have a lot in common. But they're both great, as far as I'm concerned.

Yes, please.

Q. Mr. President——

President Trump. That's an interesting question, right? That would have been a hell of an answer if I said, "Well, I think I like this one or that one." No, we don't do that.

Go ahead, please.

President Trump's Diplomatic Efforts

Q. Mr. President, first of all, thank you for bringing peace to South Caucasus, something that no one has been able to achieve in 35 years.

President Trump. Thank you.

Q. That's number one.

We also noticed that you think highly of the commitments that the sides have taken on and assumed. However, considering the long history of conflict and the fact that this is not a legally binding document, will there be consequences if at some point one of the sides takes a step back, God forbid?

President Trump. I don't think it's going to happen. I think it's going to be very good. And I told them—I gave them a personal commitment. If there's—you know, there's always little problems here and there, right? The big ones have been solved. These are—the giant ones have been solved. But if there's conflict, they both know they're going to call me, and we're going to get it straightened out. They're not going to have a problem.

Where are you from?

Q. Armenia.

President Trump. Okay, good. Very good. I was wondering. It was a very unusual question, but it's not unusual, considering you're from Armenia.

If there's a problem, we will get it worked out. I told them both: Don't let the problem last; we get it early, and we'll get it solved.

Good reporter, you have over there. [Laughter]

Okay?

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

President Aliyev. Can I—can I add——

President Trump. Yes, please. Please.

President Aliyev. Can I add—yes.

First of all, I'd like to say that today we initialed the peace deal, which was in the process of negotiations for quite a while. The fact that it is initialed here in the capital number one of the world, in the office number one of the world, and the—in front of the great President of United States means that there should be no doubts and no suspicions that any of the sides would step back.

If some of—if any of us, Prime Minister Pashinyan or myself, had in mind to step back, we wouldn't have come here.

So you can be absolutely sure, as well as Azerbaijani community, that what has happened today will result in peace—long-lasting peace, eternal peace—in the Caucasus.

President Trump. That's a very nice statement.

Prime Minister Pashinyan. I'm sorry——

President Trump. Very nice.

Prime Minister Pashinyan. I'm sorry.

Fully agree, and nothing to add. [Laughter]

President Trump. That's a very nice two statements, then.

But that's a beautiful—beautifully stated statement.

Let's go. A couple of more. Yes, please.

President Trump's Foreign Policy

Q. Mr. President, many in the South Caucasus have pinned the blame on your predecessor, Joe Biden, and his Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, for obstacles in America's bilateral relations with Azerbaijan and peace in that part of the world. How important is it to you to elevate your country's partnership and your administration's partnership with Azerbaijan, with Armenia?

President Trump. Yes.

Q. And how important is this for your legacy?

President Trump. Well, to me, it's very important, but it's—you know, I just—I know the history of what was going on, because I do a lot of reading, and they've been—had a vicious—you know, they've had a very contentious relationship for a long time. It's—I mean, it's war. Most of the time was war.

And so, to get it done—they're great people. I know a lot of people from Armenia. I know a lot of people from both countries, and they're incredible people. And it shouldn't happen, what has happened. I wish we could have been here sooner.

You know, if the election were different—I'm going to be nice today. I'm not going to be controversial and say: "The election was rigged. I would have had this thing solved 4 years sooner." But the truth is, that's right. If the election weren't rigged, I would have been here 4 years sooner. We would have signed the same agreement 4 years sooner. But it didn't happen. And the Biden administration did, really, very little—actually, nothing to get it done.

But they did nothing to get, really, anything done. It was very—this country was in very serious shape. And I say it over and over again. I met all the leaders of NATO. I met—I went, as you know, to the Middle East. I was with the King of Saudi Arabia, the leaders of great countries—right?—Qatar and U.A.E. and others in the Middle East. And everyone essentially said the same thing: We had a dead country. One year ago, we had a dead country. Our country was dying, and now we have the hottest country anywhere in the world. It's not even close. We have the hottest country in the world.

And it's an honor to use that—if you call it power or respect or whatever it is—to settle wars like we have right here to my left and my right. And these two guys are very smart. I got to know them, and they're very smart. They're not going to—I don't think they're going to ever have to bother with me. They may call me just to bug me a little bit. [Laughter] Let me put them to a test, and they'll call because they like to call me, but they're not going to have any problem.

We have a very comprehensive agreement. It's a peace agreement. And this isn't cease-fire. This isn't "we'll hold off." This is a peace agreement, and they're going to end up doing a lot of business with each other. They're going to do a lot of business with the United States.

And I'm going to always remember—at least during, you know, the time that I'm here, I'm going to remember how smart they were, how good they were. And when it comes to trade and other things, we're going to always go 100-percent out. We'll go out of our way to make sure it comes out good for them.

They did an amazingly good thing and a very brave thing. It's a very complicated part of the world they come from, very tough part of the world. It's a tough, but smart part of the world. Smart, tough people. And great wealth. You know, great energy wealth.

I was talking to Chris, and you were saying, in terms of wealth, it's enormous wealth. But wealth doesn't often solve problems. It takes other things. But they were—they're amazing—two amazing leaders, and it's an honor to be associated with them.

How about we'll do one more? Please.

Ukraine/Russia/North Atlantic Treaty Organization

Q. Thank you, Mr. President. Your gut instincts have always done well in terms of business and in terms of politics. What does your gut tell you as it relates to the possibility of an event like this in the next few weeks, the next few months, in which you have President Putin on one side and President Zelenskyy on your other side?

President Trump. I think my instinct really tells me that we have a shot at it. Okay? And you'll find that out later on, and maybe even today, but we have a shot at it.

Look, it's got to be solved. You know, we're not losing people. A lot of people say: "Why are you bothering? We're not losing people." We were spending hundreds of billions of dollars. Now we're spending nothing. We're spending no money. I guess we're making money because, you know, our great—we have the best military equipment in the world. We're selling it to NATO.

But you're losing thousands of people a week. Russians and Ukrainians, mostly. And mostly soldiers, but, you know, missiles are lobbed into cities and towns—Kyiv, lots of places. You've been reading the same stories that I've been reading. And we've got to get it solved.

Nobel Peace Prize/Ukraine/Russia

Q. The Norwegian Nobel Committee will make their announcement as it relates to this year's Nobel Peace Prize on October the 10th—Friday, October the 10th. Is that date circled on your calendar, Mr. President?

President Trump. I can't say. I mean, a lot of people say they'll—no matter what I did, because, you know, I'm a—of a certain persuasion. No matter what I do, they won't give it.

And I'm not politicking for it. I have a lot of people that are. I know—I mean, I read the same things as you do. But it would be a great honor, certainly, but I would never politic.

I'm not doing it for that. I'm doing it because of—I really—number one, I want to save lives. That's why I'm involved so much with Ukraine and Russia. It's saving lives of Russians and Ukrainians. I'm—it's not American lives.

Now, I would say this, that war could have escalated in some-—something much—that could have been a world war. I think if we didn't come, Ukraine-Russia would have ended up being a world war, and I stopped that. That stopped.

Now the only question is: When is it going to be settled? And it could be very soon. But when is it going to be—but that would have been a world war. If I didn't come along with a very talented group of people, sitting largely right here, but there are others not in the room that are very talented, I think Russia-Ukraine would have had a very, very high degree. I think even probably would have ended up being in a world war.

Q. Your predecessor, Mr. President——

President Trump. I don't think people talk about that now because they don't see it anymore, but we brought it down a long way. But that was getting to a point—when I first came in, I said, "Wow, this thing is really bad." And it could have gone—it could have escalated to a level that you people would have been very unhappy with.

Yes.

President Trump's Approach to Foreign Policy

Q. Your predecessor, Mr. President, President Ronald Reagan, had a phrase as it relates to dealing with the then Soviet Union and also Mikhail Gorbachev. The phrase was, "Trust, but verify." Do you subscribe to that same view as it relates to Mr. Putin and Russia?

President Trump. Well, I do, relating to everybody. I mean, not just President Putin, but also people and leaders that I deal with. Look, I'm dealing with trade, and some of the worst deals we made—some of the worst trade deals we have—I talk about friend and foe, right? Friend and foe. Two interesting words. Some of our worst trade deals were not with the foe; they were with the friends.

Our friends were just killing us on trade. Not anymore. Not anymore. We're making—we'll be—you know, we're taking in trillions of dollars, and we're respected. And we're settling, you know, through trade—even a little bit here. Less here than on some. But through trade, I got things settled.

With India-Pakistan, I think it was trade more than any other reason. That's how I got involved. I said, "You know, I don't want to be dealing with countries that are trying to blow up themselves and maybe the world." You know, they're nuclear nations. That was a big one. Getting that one settled, I think you'd agree, that was a big one.

And they were going at it. You know, they were shooting airplanes out of the sky. You know, they—five or six planes got shot down in their last little skirmish, and then it was going to escalate from there. And that could have gotten to be very, very bad.

No, I want to save a lot of lives. I love saving lives. That's what it's about. And, you know, when you save lives, you really end up having a peaceful world. Usually, that ends up pretty well.

I want to thank everybody, but in particular, these two great leaders for having the courage to do what they did today, and they're going to go down in the history books. And it's a great honor to be involved.

Thank you very much. Thank you.