... started mounting within European institutions. Formally, the European Commission praised the success of the reforms carried out in Georgia under EU programs, but it also noted that Tbilisi had refused time and again to act as an agent for the West in the South Caucasus, a region neighboring Russia. Georgian authorities were adamant that national interests dictated the principle of non-interference in the power struggles between the world’s major players, while Georgia’s Western partners, on the contrary, expected it to side with the ...
... Russian border guards have been stationed along the Iranian-Armenian border for decades, and this presence has never posed a threat to Iran's security. Tehran might be using the Zangezur Corridor issue as a pretext to express its dissatisfaction with Russia over issues unrelated to the Caucasus.
The South Caucasus is a battleground for competing international powers such as Russia, Turkey, and the West. Given its geographical proximity and complex history, the region’s national, ethnic, and geopolitical interests intersect with those of Iran, leading ...
... approaches to security and economic development in the South Caucasus. The meeting was attended by leading experts from Russia and Iran
On July 31, 2024, a closed round table “Russia and Iran: Approaches Towards Security and Economic Development in the South Caucasus Region” was held. Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) in cooperation with Governance and Policy Think Tank (GPTT) organized the meeting. The goal of the round table was to discuss Russia’s and Iran’s approaches to security and economic development in the South ...
... international capital flows.
Russia is fully ready to support further normalization of Armenian–Azerbaijani relations.
The role of the International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC) in the current geopolitical landscape is of particular relevance to Russia and Azerbaijan alike. Restoring transport links among the South Caucasus nations will help cultivate both economic and political relations within the region and will also have a positive effect on the development of cooperation between the South Caucasus and Central Asia.
The 3+3 consultative regional platform ...
... not a Eurasian “powder keg”— are the final goal.
1
. Holmes, J.W. Most Safely in the Middle // International Journal, Spring 1984. Vol. 39. № 2, pp. 366–388.
2
. Golmohammadi, V. and Markedonov, S.M. How Iran Perceives Turkey’s Rise in the South Caucasus // Russia in Global Affairs. 2024. Vol. 22. № 1. Pp. 152–175.
3
. Leksyutina, Ya. V. China in South Caucasus: The Scale of Economic Presence // Post-Soviet Studies, 2022, vol. 5, #1, pp. 57-72
... which surely coupled with the zero point of Armenia’s foreign policy decisions.
Sergei Melkonian, Jason Wahlang:
India in the South Caucasus: Implications for Russia, Iran and Turkey
Armenia no longer has the need to compete with Azerbaijan for the Russian policy efforts in South Caucasus, while its services as an agent of foreign influence in the region have seen a sharp increase in demand recently from ‘buyers’ such as France, the EU and the United States. From Moscow, Yerevan has already received the most of what ...
... zero-sum game. In this context, India is not part of the collective West and does not project its interests. Competing in the region, which is within Russia's sphere of interest, is not on India's agenda. Therefore, New Delhi's expanding presence in the South Caucasus does not threaten Russia’s zero-sum game approach.
Second, India
considers
Armenia as a bridge to the EAEU. Negotiations on the creation of a free trade zone continue between the parties, as New Delhi is now preparing to become an observer country of the EAEU in 2024....
Russia can rest assured that all formal and informal agreements with Azerbaijan
will be honored
An epilogue for Karabakh
On September 20, 2023, a historic event took place. Its scale and impact on the future of South Caucasus and Russia’s policy in this region has yet to be comprehended. The separatist hotbed in Karabakh, which had been supported by Armenia militarily, diplomatically and financially for 32 years, declared itself liquidated following a one-day counter-terrorist ...
... China and its regional partners cannot even theoretically be considered potentially hostile to Russia, their rapprochement can either benefit it or eliminate existing problems if it moderately succeeds. But there is no way to create new difficulties for Russia, comparable to those that we are now seeing emanating from the West.
The same goes for the South Caucasus region, which is now very likely on the verge of major changes because of the long-standing conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. This region, due to its geopolitical position, as well as its ethnic composition, cannot become a consolidated ...
The discussion focused on the following issues: the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, relations between Russia and Georgia in the context of challenges in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and prospects for cooperation between Russia and the European Union in the South Caucasus
On September 28, 2021, Swedish Embassy in Russia hosted a meeting between Andrey Kortunov, RIAC Director General, Nikolay Silaev, RIAC Expert, Director of Caucasian Cooperation Nonprofit Partnership, Senior Research Fellow, Center for ...
