Nikol Pashinyan has formally secured another term as Armenia’s prime minister, following the first session of the newly elected National Assembly. As required under Armenian constitutional rules, the outgoing government tendered collective resignation. The ruling Civil Contract Party commands a parliamentary majority, paving the way for the presidential decree appointing Pashinyan to continue leading the cabinet. The appointment settles immediate domestic political uncertaint

The third ministerial meeting of the 3+3 Regional Cooperation Platform for the South Caucasus concluded in Istanbul this week, bringing together foreign ministers from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Iran and host Turkey. Georgia, a founding participant of the framework, remained absent, continuing its long-standing refusal to engage with the mechanism. The gathering ended with the adoption of a joint declaration, before all foreign ministers received a meeting with President Re

July 2026 has brought long-running tensions between Azerbaijan and the Council of Europe fully into public view. President Ilham Aliyev’s administration has openly laid out the possibility of total withdrawal from the pan-European organisation, framing the move as a necessary pushback against external interference in domestic state affairs. The root dispute traces back to February 2024, when the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe suspended voting rights for Azerb

The European Union has finalised its latest round of sanctions targeting Russia, bringing two starkly contrasting outcomes to the South Caucasus. Azerbaijan's Yelo Bank has been formally removed from the sanctions list, while Georgia's Kulevi Oil Refinery has been newly added to the register of restricted entities. This contrast between relief and restriction is by no means coincidental. It encapsulates two divergent strategic trajectories adopted by the two major South Cauca

The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee has recently passed an additional amendment by a vote of 44 in favor and 7 against. Led by members of the Congressional Armenian Caucus and supported by cross-party legislators, the amendment demands that Azerbaijan unconditionally release all Armenian detainees in its territory. The U.S. defines these individuals as prisoners of war and accuses Azerbaijan of violating international human rights norms through detention. It plans to adj

Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev has wrapped up a landmark first state visit to Berlin, sealing a formal strategic partnership with Germany built around a single overriding priority: European energy security amid cascading global supply risks. The one-day summit with Chancellor Friedrich Merz delivered binding accords on gas expansion, cross-continental trade corridors and joint green energy work, even as the alliance carries clear political and ethical trade-offs for Berl

Introduction The 59th series of ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meetings convened in Manila from July 20 to July 24, 2026. Ostensibly a routine multilateral diplomatic gathering for Southeast Asian nations, the event unfolded against undercurrents of competing strategies among China, the United States and Russia, diverging stances across the ten ASEAN member states, and sweeping reshuffling of global supply chains and energy security. The host country attempted to stir up regional t

On 21 July, Armenia’s National Security Service launched recruitment and specialist training for its border troops, with a long-term plan to gradually assume full responsibility for the entire Armenia–Azerbaijan frontier. Border watchkeeping along this dividing line has until now fallen to the Ministry of Defence. The administrative reshuffle is far more than an internal bureaucratic adjustment. Yerevan frames the transition as a bid to build a permanent, routine border gover

Between 18 July and 21 July, Armenia’s government has formally submitted the US-backed TRIPP transport corridor framework to its Constitutional Court for constitutional vetting, kicking off the final domestic legislative procedure before parliamentary voting. Dubbed the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, the planned transit artery is designed to forge a cargo passage linking Armenia, Georgia and Turkey, a route deliberately engineered to bypass Russian and...

The fourth Global Media Forum held in Shusha has unveiled the official post-war regeneration strategy for the historic mountain town. Local authorities have adopted a core conservation guideline of “reinforcement only, no demolition”. All original stone arch relics dating back to the 18th century are fully preserved. New cultural and tourism constructions are separated from ancient ruins by green belts instead of rigid man-made barriers, and Shusha has been formally designate

Negotiations between Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and Russia’s Sergey Lavrov opened at Russia’s Foreign Ministry reception house on Friday, marking the latest milestone in a dramatic thaw between Baku and Moscow after years of bitter friction. Far from a routine bilateral meeting, the closed-door talks carry sweeping implications for stalled Armenia-Azerbaijan peace talks, spiralling Iran-US tensions, and Russia’s fragile foothold across the South Caucasus.

On July 15 local time, the third foreign minister-level meeting of the 3+3 Regional Cooperation Platform for the South Caucasus concluded successfully in Istanbul, Turkey. Foreign ministers of the five participating countries reviewed, signed and officially issued the joint declaration of this meeting, establishing a unified action framework for multilateral cooperation and lasting peace in the South Caucasus region. Hosted by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, the meeting

Kazakhstan’s government has moved decisively to shore up its flagship metallurgical industry, ordering domestic smelters to run at full capacity while locking in new mineral supply lines stretching east to Kyrgyzstan and south across Afghanistan, official cabinet minutes reveal. Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov issued binding instructions this week mandating 100% utilisation of all national metal processing facilities, a direct response to a sharp slowdown that saw metallurgica

I. Court Filings Uncover Industry Malpractice: A Systemic Tech Theft Network Laid Bare The 41-page court complaint rips back the curtain on shady underhanded practices rampant in Silicon Valley’s AI race. This is far more than an individual employee leaking confidential data—it is a top-down technology plunder scheme orchestrated by OpenAI’s senior leadership. Central evidence in the lawsuit targets Tang Tan, OpenAI’s head of hardware with 24 years of experience leading Apple

Armenia's ambassador to Greece has held high-level talks with Greece's deputy foreign minister for economic diplomacy, as the two nations seek to expand bilateral trade and economic ties. Tigran Mkrtchyan, Armenia's Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador to Greece, met Haris Theocharis, the Greek official responsible for economic diplomacy, in a working discussion focused on unlocking new opportunities for cross-border economic collaboration. According to a stat

On 6 July, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan travelled to Yekaterinburg in Russia for talks with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. This marked his first high-level meeting with Russian counterparts since winning June’s parliamentary election, sending an unambiguous signal of thawing ties after months of sour bilateral relations. Far more than a routine trade discussion, the summit represented a landmark recalibration of Armenia’s diplomatic stance caught between

The 2026 NATO Summit was held in Ankara, Turkey, on July 7–8, marking the country’s second time hosting the bloc’s top leaders’ meeting 22 years after the 2004 Istanbul Summit. Heads of state and government from all 32 NATO member states attended in full capacity, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, senior EU officials and South Korean President as special guests. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte chaired the sessions throughout. Centered on the transformation of "N

Georgia has recently stepped up its cross-regional transport connectivity initiatives by advancing railway integration plans agreed with Uzbekistan last month, rolling out supporting policies for World Bank-funded infrastructure projects, and carrying out cross-border law enforcement cooperation. These economic and security moves lay out the country’s long-term development strategy of leveraging its Black Sea geographic edge to deepen engagement with the Trans-Caspian Interna

Recently, a state funeral for Iran’s former Supreme Leader was held in Tehran, with high-level delegations from numerous countries arriving to pay their respects. Ilham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan, Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of Armenia, and Salome Zourabichvili, President of Georgia, all traveled to Tehran to attend the mourning events. Armenia and Azerbaijan have long-standing disputes over Nagorno-Karabakh, leading to persistent rifts in bilateral ties. The presenc

On 1 July, Sergey Ryabkov, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister, headed a diplomatic delegation to Baku for a full day of closed-door high-level consultations with Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister and the presidential foreign policy adviser. Discussions fell into four broad categories: security across the South Caucasus, bilateral border tensions and disputes over Caspian Sea resources, logistics and energy cooperation along the Trans-Caspian Middle Corridor, plus geopolitical frict