By Benyamin Poghosyan, Chairman, Center for Political and Economic Strategic Studies, Yerevan

Since the start of the negotiations for the peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict all options suggested by the mediators have envisaged the return of some territories under the control of Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan. Meanwhile, till now, Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh have managed to avoid such a scenario. However, this didn’t always happen for reasons under Armenian leaders’ control. READ MORE

• December 24, 2019

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday that the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline would be completed in a matter of months and U.S. sanctions imposed on the project last week would not be “catastrophic”.

• December 23, 2019

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday there was “nothing catastrophic” about U.S. sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project, given Russia’s gas transit deal with Ukraine, adding the project would be completed in a couple of months.

• December 23, 2019

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan will discuss Ankara’s offer to provide military support to Libya’s internationally recognized government during talks in Turkey next month, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.

• December 18, 2019

By Benyamin Poghosyan, PhD, Executive Director, Political Science Association of Armenia

In 2019, the EU and six Partner states are celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Eastern Partnership (EaP) program. Many conferences, expert workshops and other events were organized to assess the success and failures of the EaP. Meanwhile, alongside assessments of the past, the future of the program is also being actively discussed. EU even launched the ‘Structured Consultation” on the future strategic direction of the EaP and tasked the European Commission and the European External Action Service to present proposals. Member States and Eastern Partners, as well as other actors, including civil society, academia and think-tanks were invited to share their views on a new post-2020 policy framework, and the perspectives of EU enlargement. READ MORE

• December 16, 2019

Russia and Belarus have come closer to resolving their differences on oil and gas supplies, Russia’s economy minister said on Saturday after talks between the two countries.

• December 11, 2019

The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee will vote as soon as next week on legislation that would impose stiff new sanctions on Russia over its meddling in U.S. elections and aggression against Ukraine, a committee spokeswoman said on Wednesday.

• December 11, 2019

By Benyamin Poghosyan, PhD, Executive Director, Political Science Association of Armenia

On December 4, 2019, Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers held their last meeting for this year on the margins of the OSCE Ministerial Conference in Bratislava. According to Armenian and Azerbaijani sources, the current stage of negotiations, the necessity of ceasefire consolidation and the implementation of confidence-building measures were among the key topics of discussion. The Foreign Minister of Armenia highlighted the modest achievement reached within the framework of the agreement on preparing the populations for peace, through the implementation of an exchange program for media representatives from Armenia, Artsakh and Azerbaijan. READ MORE

• December 10, 2019