By Vasif HUSEYNOV, PhD, Head of Department, AIR Center, Adjunct Lecturer, ADA and Khazar Universities, Baku

On April 25, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas paid a visit to Azerbaijan. This was the first visit of the EU’s top diplomat to Baku in the past nine years. Both sides gave positive messages during the visit about the existing situation in bilateral relations and future prospects. President Ilham Aliyev reaffirmed Azerbaijan’s position as a dependable EU partner, drawing attention to the Southern Gas Corridor’s steady supply of natural gas to Europe over the past four years. Currently, ten European nations – eight of them EU members – receive Azerbaijani gas, positioning Baku as a major contributor to the continent’s energy security. Aliyev also pointed to effective collaboration under the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council and noted promising opportunities in renewable energy. Azerbaijan’s involvement in advancing the Trans-Caspian Energy Corridor and joint Black Sea energy projects with countries like Georgia, Romania, Hungary, and Bulgaria was also underscored. READ MORE

• EGF Editor  |  Published on EGF: 19.05.2025  |  External Relations
•  

By Elkhan NURIYEV, PhD, Senior Fellow at the Mathias Corvinus Collegium Foundation in Budapest and Senior Fellow at the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Berlin

The United States is heading toward a strategic collision with Iran, with implications that extend far beyond Washington. Despite resumed nuclear talks in Muscat, diplomacy is unlikely to halt Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Not because of tactical missteps, but because the world — and Iran’s position within it — has changed. While negotiations continue, Washington has not eased its pressure. The United States has imposed new separate sanctions packages on Iran in April alone, targeting sectors from missile development to financial networks. The cost of drawn-out diplomacy is mounting, and Tehran faces increasing pressure to shift its strategy or absorb deeper economic pain.The current impasse is no longer about centrifuges or sanctions. It reflects a hardening geopolitical triangle that now links Iran with Russia and China, a partnership that is reshaping power dynamics across the Middle East and influencing global strategic stability. READ MORE

• EGF Editor  |  Published on EGF: 19.05.2025  |  External Relations
•  

Dr. Marat Terterov, Co-founder of the European Geopolitical Forum, discusses the current situation of the European Union’s relations with the South Caucasian countries - Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. He also explains his vision for regional cooperation in the South Caucasus, and the steps needed to discourage conflict and foster stability. WATCH MORE

• EGF Editor  |  Published on EGF: 07.05.2025  |  External Relations
•  

By Fuad Shahbazov, Baku-based independent regional security and defence analyst

On April 22, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev conducted a state visit to the People’s Republic of China (PRC), meeting with President Xi Jinping to cement the bilateral partnership that began in 2024. During the visit, Aliyev and Xi signed an agreement to establish a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between Azerbaijan and the PRC. The visit came at a tense time for the PRC as an intensifying trade war with the United States motivates Beijing to seek alternative transit routes and destinations for exports. Azerbaijan’s role as a viable transit hub between the PRC, Central Asia, and Europe positions it to cultivate partnerships with nearly all regional states. Baku accordingly plays a role in both the PRC-led “One Belt One Road” (OBOR) initiative and the Middle Corridor, underscoring Azerbaijan’s growing of ties with the PRC and European Union. READ MORE

• EGF Editor  |  Published on EGF: 06.05.2025  |  External Relations
•  

By Benyamin POGHOSYAN, PhD, Senior Research Fellow at the APRI Armenia

Since Armenia gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, normalizing relations with Turkey has been one of the country’s top foreign-policy priorities. The rationale behind this has been both economic, to end the blockade and facilitate access to Turkish Mediterranean ports, and political, to drive a wedge in the Azerbaijan–Turkey strategic partnership. Armenia took steps towards normalization in 2008 and 2009. As a result of intensive negotiations, Armenia and Turkey signed two protocols in Zurich in 2009 to open their borders and establish diplomatic relations. However, Turkey did not ratify them, under intense pressure from Azerbaijan. READ MORE

• EGF Editor  |  Published on EGF: 06.05.2025  |  External Relations
•  

By Vasif HUSEYNOV, PhD, Head of Department, AIR Center, Adjunct Lecturer, ADA and Khazar Universities, Baku

On April 15–16, the newly elected President of Georgia, Mikheil Kavelashvili, paid an official visit to Azerbaijan. The visit was of notable symbolic importance since it was Kavelashvili’s first foreign visit as president. The Azerbaijani side appreciated this gesture, as Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stated in the joint press conference with Kavelashvili, “It once again reflects the essence of Azerbaijan-Georgia relations and the friendship and brotherhood between our peoples”. Earlier on January 17, the re-elected Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze also paid his first official visit to the Azerbaijani capital after the elections. Aliyev characterized this as the emergence of a “wonderful tradition” and underlined its symbolic importance of the relations between the two countries. READ MORE

• EGF Editor  |  Published on EGF: 06.05.2025  |  External Relations
•  

Interview with Eugene KOGAN, Tbilisi-based defence and security expert

In a wide-ranging conversation with Radio Free Europe Georgian service, Kogan offers a stark assessment of the much-hyped Armenia–Azerbaijan peace deal. Though labelled “historic”, the agreement remains stalled. Baku, holding the stronger hand, is in no rush to finalize it—using the drawn-out process to pressure Armenia into further concessions, including the Zangezur corridor and constitutional changes on Nagorno-Karabakh. Meanwhile, Armenia, increasingly isolated and eager to sign, lacks meaningful alternatives or strong international backing. Without a neutral mediator and amid shifting regional alliances—especially Georgia’s pivot toward Moscow—the deal looks more like a tool of leverage than a step toward lasting peace. READ MORE

• EGF Editor  |  Published on EGF: 06.05.2025  |  External Relations
•  

By Benyamin POGHOSYAN, PhD, Senior Research Fellow at the APRI Armenia


The promise to end the war in Ukraine quickly was one of Donald J. Trump’s main campaign pledges. Upon returning to the White House in January 2025, the president began taking steps toward this goal. The world witnessed a whirlwind of negotiations: face-to-face meetings between Mr. Trump’s envoy, Steven Witkoff, and Russian President Vladimir Putin; multiple phone calls between Mr. Trump and Presidents Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky; direct US–Russia and US–Ukraine talks in Saudi Arabia; and a tense meeting in the Oval Office with Mr. Zelensky.
As a result, Russia and Ukraine agreed to suspend attacks on each other’s energy infrastructure for one month. Negotiations are now underway for a broader ceasefire. It is too early to assess the likelihood of a complete and lasting ceasefire — let alone the prospects for a comprehensive peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine. READ MORE

• EGF Editor  |  Published on EGF: 27.03.2025  |  External Relations
•  

By Vasif HUSEYNOV, PhD, Head of Department, AIR Center, Adjunct Lecturer, ADA and Khazar Universities, Baku

On March 6, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel is engaged in discussions with the United States “to establish a strong foundation for trilateral cooperation between Israel, Azerbaijan, and the U.S.”. This statement coincided with debates in the Knesset on “Upgrading the Strategic Alliance between Israel and Azerbaijan”. The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) highlighted Azerbaijan’s role as a “strategic ally in the Caucasus region,” with bilateral cooperation spanning security, trade, technology, and energy. Israeli National Missions Minister Orit Strock, speaking on behalf of the government, emphasized the unique and long-standing friendship between Israel and Azerbaijan. READ MORE

• EGF Editor  |  Published on EGF: 27.03.2025  |  External Relations
•  

By Yeghia TASHJIAN, Beirut-based regional analyst and researcher, columnist, "The Armenian Weekly”

With the disintegration of the Syrian state after 2011, the Kurds in northeast Syria became key players in shaping the country’s future. The recent agreement between Damascus and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) further consolidated their role. However, the future of the Syrian state remains uncertain amid the horrors of the massacres of Alawites on the Syrian coast by radical Islamist factions affiliated with the new administration, Israel’s aspirations to encourage secessionist tendencies among the Druze community in Syria’s south, and Turkey’s strategic interests in Syria, which seem to collide with American- Israeli interests. This article sheds light on the agreement between Syria’s President Ahmad al-Sharaa and SDF General Mazloum Abdi and assess Turkey’s ambitions amid growing domestic and regional uncertainties shaping Syria’s future. READ MORE

• EGF Editor  |  Published on EGF: 22.03.2025  |  External Relations
•