#SouthCaucasus #Azerbaijan #Armenia
ARMS FOR PRISONERS
Trump administration: easing restrictions on arms sales to Azerbaijan in exchange for the release of political prisoners.
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In August 2025, the Trump administration brokered a historic peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which included lifting long-standing restrictions on U.S. defense cooperation with Baku. [1, 2]
While the deal lifted restrictions by waiving Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act—paving the way for potential arms sales and joint military training—it was criticized by human rights groups and members of Congress for failing to secure the release of political prisoners and prisoners of war. [3, 4, 5]
Key Details of the AgreementDefense Cooperation: The administration issued a waiver for Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act, a 1992 law that previously banned direct U.S. assistance to Azerbaijan.
Strategic Corridor: The deal established the “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity” (TRIPP), a strategic transit corridor through the South Caucasus with U.S. development rights for 99 years.
Missing Prisoner Provisions: Despite pressure from the Congressional Armenian Caucus and rights groups like Freedom Now, the agreement lacked specific mandates for Baku to release its approximately 375 political prisoners or Armenian detainees.
Proposed “Grand Deal”: As of May 2026, policy experts from the Atlantic Council have proposed a “grand deal” that would explicitly trade further lifting of arms sale bans for the release of these prisoners, modeled after the administration’s recent negotiations with Belarus. [4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14][1] cnbc.com
[2] politico.com
[3] politico.com
[4] armenianweekly.com
[5] armenianweekly.com
[6] atlanticcouncil.org
[7] presidency.ucsb.edu
[8] geopoliticalmonitor.com
[9] youtube.com
[10] en.wikipedia.org
[11] youtube.com
[12] cnbc.com
[13] politico.com
[14] atlanticcouncil.org— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) May 12, 2026
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