On August 8, 2025, a conflict that had been going on for more than 35 years—the continuation of a millennia-old feud—timidly made headlines in the daily news: Donald Trump, sitting alongside the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Washington, mediating a peace agreement in this long conflict.

The agreement received much criticism: many, especially on the web, called it a surrender that endorsed the Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh and legitimized what many did not hesitate to call the ethnic cleansing of the more than 100,000 Armenians who had lived in the region for centuries. This is in addition to the burden that the Armenian people have been carrying for a century, namely the genocide of a million of its members as part of the extermination of Christian minorities in the Ottoman Empire. Many turned up their noses at the treaty and the ceremony in front of the cameras, considering it a bitter surrender.

Armenia’s military situation had become unsustainable.

The border with Turkey had been closed since 1993, shortly after independence from the USSR. And since 1988, there had been a bloody conflict with Azerbaijan, which had obviously also closed its borders. Armenia managed to ensure its survival through its border with Georgia and the protection of Russia, an ally of the Armenians for centuries (certainly more for expansionist aims than for sincere sentiment).

Yerevan did not live in complete isolation, however: it engaged in extensive trade with Iran by land and enjoyed access to the Black Sea via Georgia. But the absence of its own ports, closed borders with Turkey and Azerbaijan, and limited infrastructure on the Iranian side make it a very fragile country from a logistical point of view, and heavily dependent on external countries: hostility or a change in policy on the part of Georgia or Iran would leave it completely surrounded. A real nightmare.

Armenia has never moved too close to the West precisely in order not to compromise its relations with Moscow, but in 2023 the situation descended into chaos: the Russian armed contingent that acted as guarantor of peace in Nagorno-Karabakh broke its promises and did nothing to hinder the Azerbaijani offensive that led to the conquest of the region and the almost total expulsion of the Armenians living there. This is undoubtedly linked to the erosion of Russian military strength due to Russia’s war effort in Ukraine, an event that weakened the CSTO. Not only that, but the loss of Russia as an ally has opened the door to the United States, and therefore to the Western world. The signing of the peace agreement at the White House was a very clear message in terms of its significance.

And what many saw as a surrender to their hated historical adversaries is beginning to have positive repercussions. Goods are once again crossing the border with Azerbaijan, which had been closed for decades.

The return of wheat: survival is more important than pride

On November 4, Armenian Economy Minister Gevorg Papoyan announced that essential wheat from Russia would be transported to Armenia via Azerbaijan (and Georgia). This had not happened for more than three decades. For a landlocked country with two closed borders and limited infrastructure to Iran, this is revolutionary.

The agreement with Azerbaijan was unfavorable for Armenians, both militarily and socially. Definitely.

Is anyone asking Armenians to go celebrate with Azerbaijanis hand in hand in a field of flowers, perhaps with Turks to complete the picture? Nobody, absolutely not. No one in Armenia has forgotten Karabakh. No truce can erase the humiliations, the exoduses, the cemeteries.

But geography is not a matter of opinion. Sometimes it is more important to survive than to save pride.

Patriotism does not fill warehouses. Wheat does.