Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev lavished praise on President Donald Trump's diplomacy, telling a group of journalists at the 4th Shusha Global Media Forum that the president achieved peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia in mere months, a historic feat that both Democrat and Republican administrations had failed to accomplish over nearly 30 years.
When asked by Breitbart News reporter Joshua Klein what distinguished Trump's approach, Aliyev said the difference was one of mindset for the willingness to treat an entrenched conflict as something to be settled rather than contained.
"Previous administrations spent nearly three decades pursuing policies that effectively froze the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict rather than resolving it," Aliyev said, noting that Trump "approached the conflict from an entirely different perspective."
The Azerbaijani president called Trump "a person who loves peace" who "sees peace as an opportunity."
"Trump and his team understood Azerbaijan's concerns, worked to persuade Armenia that peace served both countries' interests and ultimately created such a framework that peace became possible," the leader added.
Those negotiations culminated at the White House last August, when Trump brought together Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
The two leaders signed a Joint Declaration while their foreign ministers initiated a comprehensive peace agreement. The accord created a joint U.S.-Azerbaijani working group charged with carrying out its provisions within six months.
"For the first time in my experience, American officials kept their word so strictly," the Azerbaijani President said.
Aliyev said the deal opened the door to something larger, a Strategic Partnership Declaration between Washington and Baku, and described the relationship between the two nations as having reached "unprecedented" heights.
"This is amazing, this is unbelievable," he said. "This is something which we could only dream about."
Trump, rarely one to pass up praise, shared the Breitbart News article on Aliyev's remarks, prompting the Azerbaijani leader to heap on still more.
"Mr. President, Thank you for sharing my remarks from the Shusha Global Media Forum, where I described you as a "Man of Peace," citing Breitbart," Aliyev wrote on X. "With less than a month remaining until the first anniversary of the historic Washington Summit, I would like to once again express my sincere appreciation for your indispensable role in advancing lasting peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Your leadership has made a historic contribution to bringing our region closer to peace, stability, and prosperity."
"You truly are a Man of Peace," he concluded.