Quo vadis, vae victis?: Where art thou going, woe the vanquished?

Vaհe H Apelian

On August 8, 2025, Armenia cut short its losses as a vanquished state by signing the American brokered peace deal in Washington DC. The territorial integrity of Armenia and the sovereignty, and the jurisdiction of the State of Armenia, are spelled out in the peace deal that bears the signatures of Ilham Aliyev,  the President of Azerbaijan,  Nikol Pashinyan the Prime Minister of Armenia, and Donald Trump, the President of the United States of America. This peace deal makes the possibility of releasing the Armenian hostages in Baku more plausible than without it and that will mean the world for their families. PM Pashinyan has brought the issue of the Armenian Christian prisoners to the attention of president Trump during the Armenian delegation's meeting with president Trump in the While House.

But let me be clear, no triparty agreement assures Armenia's real estate or as as a state. The disastrous "44-day" Second Artsakh War did not end with November 9, 2020 trilateral agreement signed between President Aliyev and PM Pashinyan. The agreement was  brokered by the Russian President Putin. The fact of the matter is that the Armenian capitulation did not even end with the ensuing depopulation of Artsakh of its native, ancient  Armenian inhabitants in September 2023. As a matter of fact, the on going brewing war entered a very dangerous phase that would have been existentially fatal to Armenia, and that would have been the taking over of Syunik region by the same alliance of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Israel that brought about the capitulation of Armenia and resulted in the ensuing depopulation of the native Armenians from historic Artsakh, the home of the legendary Karabakh Meliks. 

The August 8, 2025 peace deal signed by President Aliyev, Prime Minister Pashinyan and President Trump removed that danger for now and for the foreseable future. I quote the third passage of the peace deal and highlight the words PM Pashinyan brought to reporters’ attention in his post deal meeting. The passage reads as follows: “We reaffirmed the importance of the opening of communications between the two countries for intra-state, bilateral, and international transportation for the promotion of peace, stability, and prosperity in the region and in its neighborhood on the basis of respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and jurisdiction of the States. These efforts are to include unimpeded connectivity between the main part of the Republic of Azerbaijan and its Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic through the territory of the Republic of Armenia with reciprocal benefits for international and intra-state connectivity for the Republic of Armenia.”

Naturally it was expected to the Armenian signatories of the peace deal that Iran and the Russian Federation will be against the signed peace deal. I imagine that the Armenian government has given due consideration of the expected opposition from them. It will be to the Armenian diplomacy to assure Iran and the Russian Federation that the transportation passage will not in any way infringe on their security and interests. On the contrary it will most likely be helpful for their economic interests as well. Armenia has ruled out war and has determined to live in peace with its neighbors

But what is surprising is the backlash from segments of the Diaspora, especially from Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), against the American brokered peace deal. ANCA seemed intent on stirring the emotions of the public against the government of Armenia by citing the issues ANCA claims should have been part of the peace deal, to have “real” peace and not a peace deal at gun point.

Of course, it is up to the citizens of Armenia to work out this American brokered peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan to Armenia's advantage, or change its course, expectedly constitutionally, such as by voting  in the upcoming June 2026 election for a government that will scrap this peace deal and live with the outcome and sort its consequences.