Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, top stories this morning

● Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Armenia remains committed to mutually beneficial cooperation within the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), led by Russia. “This cooperation is aimed at ensuring sustainable development across the region. Armenia is consistently promoting an agenda of peace, trade and transport infrastructure in the region,” Pashinyan said during an online session of the EAEU Intergovernmental Council. At the same time, he again raised the issue of Russia restricting imports of Armenian products. “No significant progress has been made in the negotiations, but we need to continue constructive dialogue,” Pashinyan said.

● Despite Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s latest statement that Armenia does not plan to leave the Eurasian Economic Union, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko used the same online meeting to warn Armenia against leaving the EAEU common market. “There is no need to rush to throw away something that is benefiting you today,” Lukashenko said. “Believe me, as an old president with almost 30 years in office, no one is waiting for us anywhere.”

● Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan will visit Iran today.

● The Armenian Foreign Ministry’s press secretary posted about the foreign minister’s planned visit to Iran, using an old Iranian flag that is highly sensitive in Tehran. The flag was used before the revolution and is now used at protests against Iranian embassies abroad. “Accidental? Bad. Because a senior diplomat should know these details. Deliberate? Very bad. It is precisely because of such details that the bar in our relations keeps getting lower and lower,” Arega Hovsepyan, an MP from the pro-Russian opposition Strong Armenia faction, wrote.

● Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said that “Armenia could become a second Ukraine”. “The political course chosen by Armenia’s current leadership will lead to nothing good,” he said.

● Medvedev told Iranian state media that “some countries are trying to divide the countries of the South Caucasus and damage Russia’s relations with Armenia”. Speaking to Iranian state media, Medvedev said: “First, the Western world offered Georgia NATO membership. Nothing good came of it. Georgia never became a NATO member. Its current leadership understands that this was the wrong approach. All this led to a conflict. Now our relations with Armenia are being put to the test.”

● Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze does not believe the Trump Route (TRIPP), a transit route from Azerbaijan through Armenia, could pose a significant threat to the traditional international transit routes running through Georgia. He said freight traffic along the Middle Corridor has increased sevenfold since 2020, creating an objective need to diversify routes.

● Kobakhidze said Georgia should continue work on the delimitation and demarcation of its borders with Azerbaijan and Armenia. “We have friendly relations with both countries, and work on this issue will continue in a completely friendly manner,” he said.

● Narek Karapetyan, head of the pro-Russian opposition Strong Armenia parliamentary faction, said he had a productive meeting in Strasbourg with officials from the European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines and HealthCare (EDQM). They discussed a party programme aimed at reducing medicine prices in Armenia to levels closer to those in Georgia. “Very soon, we will come up with a very interesting solution that will allow every Armenian citizen to save hundreds of thousands of drams a year,” Karapetyan wrote.

● The Catholicos of All Armenians met with a senior adviser at the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighbourhood Partnerships. No details of the meeting were released.

PHOTO: The life of the woman from Syunik who was wounded by an Azerbaijani serviceman after he illegally entered Armenia is not in danger. She is receiving the necessary medical care and remains under doctors’ supervision. “Her condition is stable, and she is holding up well,” Health Minister Anahit Avanesyan wrote on social media after visiting her in hospital. Read more on what happened

●  A video dedicated to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s keynote speech at the eighth congress of the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan Party on 2 October has been posted on his social media accounts. It includes excerpts from his remarks on the importance of Azerbaijan’s victory in the 2020 Second Karabakh War and the liberation of territories that had been occupied by Armenia for more than 30 years. However, the main message is the importance of peace and justice. “There is no place for emotions in politics. If we had given in to emotions, we would probably have erected a third Victory Arch in the centre of Yerevan by now,” Aliyev says in the video. More on Aliyev’s speech, including his tough foreign policy statements, here.

●  A conference titled “From the Shusha Declaration to the Organization of Turkic States” was held in Baku at the weekend, with guests from Turkey, Uzbekistan and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Representatives of Turkic states’ embassies, MPs and activists also took part. The forum focused on exchanging views on the shared historical and cultural values of the Turkic world. 3 October is observed as the International Day of Cooperation among Turkic States.

●  A private residential building under construction collapsed in the Bakhар settlement of Baku’s Surakhani district, killing one person and injuring another. An investigation has been launched.

●  Baku hosted the “Taste of Europe” culinary festival at the weekend, marking 30 years of partnership between the European Union and Azerbaijan. The festival was organised by the EU Delegation to Azerbaijan and opened by EU Ambassador Marijana Kujundžić. Representatives of the Belgian, French, German, Polish, Portuguese, Slovak, Spanish, Croatian, Austrian and Estonian embassies took part.

●  Azerbaijani judoka Ahmed Yusifov won the world championship in the 60kg category in Baku. He defeated Kazakhstan’s Sherzod Davlatov in the final.

●  Azerbaijan recorded its first win of the current UEFA Nations League season, beating Lithuania 1–0 in Baku. The result moved Azerbaijan to the top of the group with five points from three games.

Top stories in Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia from 28 September-2 October, 2026