The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a U.S.-brokered peace agreement at the White House on Friday. This deal would have been unthinkable not long ago. For three decades, the conflict has defined the South Caucasus. It was mediated and manipulated by Russian diplomats, patrolled by Russian peacekeepers, and shaped by Russian interests. Now, Washington is writing the ending of a sad chapter in history.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev have brought to a close an enmity that has plagued the South Caucasus since the early 1990s. From the bloody battles of the early 1990s, to Azerbaijan’s victory in 2020, to the lightning offensive of 2023 that emptied Nagorno-Karabakh of its Armenian population, this conflict has haunted generations.

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