By reconciling Armenia and Azerbaijan, Trump aims to become more deserving of Nobel Prize – Harut Sassounian

Yesterday, media reports circulated that on August 8, US President Donald Trump will host Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at the White House. It was noted that during this meeting, the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan would announce their intention to establish peace.

Alpha News spoke with Harut Sassounian, editor and publisher of the California Courier, regarding the topic.

“There’s no official statement about this—neither from Azerbaijan nor from Armenia. However, representatives from several countries are discussing it, and I believe such a meeting will take place in Washington on Friday. Here’s what we know: the first report came from an Azerbaijani journalist living in Washington. Then we received news that Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Bayramov called Turkish Foreign Minister Fidan and, according to Azerbaijani media, informed him that such a meeting is expected. After that, the spokesperson for Armenia’s Prime Minister said they could neither confirm nor deny the meeting, and that if it does take place, an official statement will be made.

All of this once again shows that news related to Armenia often comes from outside—whether from Azerbaijan, Turkey, or elsewhere. Nevertheless, I believe the meeting will happen, and as Americans say, ‘if there’s smoke, there’s fire,’” Sassounian said.

When asked what the United States would gain by establishing control over the “Zangezur corridor,” he responded:

“America’s primary interest is to put Iran in a difficult position. Secondly, it’s about trade—through Turkey to Europe, and from Europe to America. Beyond all this, there’s also a personal motive. Trump has been saying for months that he deserves the Nobel Prize and cannot accept that others have received it while he hasn’t. Almost every week, he claims to have stopped several wars. In this way, Trump is trying to secure another peace deal. He believes that if peace is established, he’ll be more deserving of the Peace Prize.”