
Latest Articles about South Caucasus

Russia Proposes to Build Nuclear Power Plant in Azerbaijan
On October 3, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev paid an official visit to Russia to attend the 16th annual meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club, in Sochi (President.az, October 3). Aliyev’s speech at the high-level event touched on multiple topics, including Azerbaijan’s partnership with Russia,... MORE

Can Western Support Actually Help Tbilisi in Its Standoff With Moscow?
The ministers of foreign affairs of Georgia and Russia, David Zalkaliani and Sergei Lavrov, respectively, met on September 26, in New York, on the sidelines of the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (Kommersant, September 27). This was the first ministerial-level meeting between... MORE

Moscow-Baku Rapprochement Continues—But With Tests Ahead
More than 20 years ago, Baku-based commentator Wafa Galuzade pointed out to this author that, for Russia in the South Caucasus, Georgia is the way and Armenia is the tool, but Azerbaijan is the prize. Yet, at some point, he added, Moscow would turn on... MORE

Putin’s Eurasian Ambitions and Propositions Ring Hollow
Russia’s “central role” in organizing the political space of rising non-Western Eurasia had been proclaimed at various forums and brainstormed by many political minds in previous years; but last week, President Vladimir Putin repeatedly attempted to give this notion new energy and content. His main... MORE

Karabakh Conflict Looks Very Different for Those at the Front Than for Baku, Yerevan or Moscow
The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Karabakh and the adjoining regions of Azerbaijan now occupied by Armenian forces is almost invariably discussed in terms of the positions held by Baku, Yerevan and Moscow. But the attitudes and feelings of the people most directly involved—the... MORE

Turkmenistan’s Gas Exports Hampered by Geopolitical Realities
On August 12, during the Caspian Economic Forum in Turkmenistan, Russia and Iran expressed their discontent regarding the long-proposed Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline (TCP) project (see EDM, September 4). Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev stressed that all “major Caspian Sea projects should undergo an impartial environmental... MORE

Russia Declares New Initiatives to Modernize Army of Breakaway Abkhazia
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his government to undertake the modernization of the Armed Forces of the breakaway Georgian territory of Abkhazia and to equip its military with additional weapons. According to Russia’s ambassador to Abkhazia (which remains unrecognized by almost every other country... MORE

Standoff Between Armenian Government and Former Regime Continues
The long-awaited trial of former president of Armenia Robert Kocharyan (in office, 1998–2008) and other officials charged with violations of the constitutional order is finally about to begin, with hearings of witness testimonies underway. For more than a year since his indictment, Kacharyan’s defense lawyers... MORE

Former Embattled Interior Minister Giorgi Gakharia Named New Prime Minister of Georgia
The Georgian parliament voted, on September 8, in favor of naming former minister of internal affairs Giorgi Gakharia the country’s new prime minister. Ninety-nine members of parliament (MP) took part in the motion, and 98 cast their vote in favor of Gakharia’s government, with no... MORE

Iran May Not Be the Entirely Reliable Ally in the Caspian Moscow Hopes For
Following last month’s (August 12) Caspian Economic Forum in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan (see EDM, September 4), a number of Russian commentators celebrated what they saw as a victory of the “Russian-Iranian approach,” which seeks to promote north-south trade over the east-west flows supported by the three... MORE