UPDATE - US’ Rubio welcomes Azerbaijani fuel shipments to Armenia in call with Bayramov

ADDS STATEMENT BY ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER; REVISES HEADLINE

By Rabia Iclal Turan

WASHINGTON (AA) - The US welcomes Azerbaijan’s first fuel shipments to Armenia in three decades as showing a commitment to implementing last year’s “historic” peace deal, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Azerbaijan Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov in a phone call on Monday.

“Secretary Rubio commended the Azerbaijani government’s shipments of fuel to Armenia, an important gesture that demonstrates Azerbaijan’s continued commitment to the historic peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan advanced by President Trump at the White House summit on August 8, 2025,” said a State Department readout of the call.

Rubio and Bayramov also discussed additional “confidence-building measures” to advance peace and prosperity in the South Caucasus, while lauding “positive developments” in US-Azerbaijani ties, the statement added.

Bayramov later wrote on X that the discussions focused on Azerbaijan-US cooperation, prospects for a "Strategic Partnership Charter," regional developments, and the Azerbaijan–Armenia normalization process, including implementation of the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP)

The road is set to link mainland Azerbaijan with its Nakhchivan exclave through Armenia, under a declaration signed last August at a summit between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, and US President Donald Trump.

Azerbaijan completed the first shipment of fuel to Armenia in December, the first such transfer in three decades, as the two Southern Caucasus neighbors take steps to improve ties following years of conflict.

The second shipment was made earlier this month. Dispatched from the Guzdak railway station and Baku cargo station on Jan. 8, it included 1,000 tons of RON 92 gasoline, 1,000 tons of diesel fuel, and 1,800 tons of RON 95 gasoline, according to media reports.

The South Caucasus neighbors signed a joint declaration at last year’s trilateral summit at the White House, alongside Trump, to end decades of conflict, with commitments to cease hostilities, reopen transport routes and normalize relations.