Shaffer: US should hold Armenia to its commitment on constitutional clause

Washington should hold Armenia to its commitment, made at the White House signing ceremony, to remove its constitutional clause calling for unification with Azerbaijan's Karabakh region, Brenda Shaffer, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council"s Global Energy Center, said in her article headlined "A Year of Peace in the Caucasus-and How to Keep It", according to Report.

She reminded that on August 8, 2025, President Trump hosted Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the White House to sign a historic peace declaration, which Mr. Trump signed as witness.

The agreement includes the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) corridor.

"A year later, that plan matters more than ever," Shaffer said, adding that Trump's continued personal engagement has helped the peace hold.

She also drew attention to the fact that the South Caucasus sits at one of the world's most consequential geopolitical junctions. It is also a source of energy that bypasses maritime chokepoints like the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea.

The expert noted that when Iran"s air routes closed during the recent war in the Middle East, the South Caucasus corridor became a critical east-west air artery.

Shaffer believes that the TRIPP project marks America's return to the region, and after just one year, the peace process has notched real gains.

"The ceasefire has held, border-delimitation talks have advanced, contacts between Armenians and Azerbaijanis have multiplied, and trade has grown. Azerbaijan has supplied Armenia with large volumes of fuel below market prices even as global prices rose. Yerevan and Baku are discussing gas trade and linking their electricity grids, and construction linking to TRIPP is progressing," the author writes.

She noted that the energy component of the deal should be expanded, as the Strait of Hormuz crisis has been a reminder that diversifying the geography of energy supply is a matter of strategic necessity, not just economics.

Shaffer also added that Washington should hold Armenia to its commitment, made at the White House signing ceremony, to remove its constitutional clause calling for unification with Azerbaijan"s Karabakh region.

"Left in place, it can allow future Armenian governments to withdraw from its peace promise," she said.

The expert also believes that the US administration should fold the South Caucasus into its broader strategies rather than treat it as a self-contained regional file.