LIVE: Key morning headlines from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia

● Today, June 15, Azerbaijan marks National Salvation Day. The date is linked to events that took place 33 years ago, when on June 15, 1993, Heydar Aliyev (the father of the current president) was elected Speaker of the Milli Majlis and outlined a strategy for the future development of Azerbaijani statehood. According to official accounts, two years after independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the country was facing the threat of civil war and disintegration amid a large-scale rebellion led by Colonel Suret Huseynov in Ganja. Azerbaijan was ultimately saved from that crisis.

● A working meeting between Presidential Assistant Hikmet Hajiyev and Armenian Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan took place in Dilijan, Armenia, on Sunday. The sides discussed efforts to advance lasting peace and stability, maintain bilateral dialogue, and promote confidence-building measures between the civil societies of both countries. Hajiyev and Grigoryan confirmed that their next meeting will be held in Azerbaijan.

● Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov met with Ben Black, head of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC). The discussions focused on prospects for Azerbaijani-American cooperation in energy, transport and transit, high technology, and investment. The parties also discussed details of the TRIPP transit project, known as the “Trump Route,” which would provide a transport link through Armenia between mainland Azerbaijan and its Nakhchivan exclave.

● A visit by senior Vatican officials to Azerbaijan is beginning at the invitation of Sheikh ul-Islam Allahshukur Pashazade, head of the Caucasus Muslim Board. Arriving in Baku today are Cardinal John Jacob Kuvakad, Prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, and Father Laurent Basanese, head of its Islamic Affairs Office. The announcement was made by Archbishop Marek Solczynski, the Vatican’s ambassador to Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Turkmenistan. He said relations between Azerbaijan and the Vatican serve as an example for the world and expressed confidence that the visit would create new opportunities for cooperation. “Azerbaijan helps restore many works of art and historical buildings in the Vatican. Our relations are at a very high level. We also have new plans and projects,” Solczynski said. The visit will last until June 19 and includes visits to the Catholic church in Baku, Albanian churches in Gabala and Sheki, the House of Tolerance in Icherisheher, the Heydar Mosque in Baku, as well as meetings with members of the public and deputies of the Milli Majlis.

●  President Ilham Aliyev sent a congratulatory letter to U.S. President Donald Trump on the occasion of his 80th birthday. The letter states that the signing of the Strategic Partnership Charter between Azerbaijan and the United States elevated bilateral relations to a qualitatively new level. Aliyev expressed confidence that joint efforts to deepen friendship and reliable partnership between the two countries, as well as to expand effective cooperation in all areas, would continue successfully.

●  In the same letter, Ilham Aliyev also thanked Trump “for his determination in advancing the peace agenda in the South Caucasus.” “The trilateral joint declaration signed by us in Washington in your presence, as well as the initialed Agreement on Peace and the Establishment of Interstate Relations with Armenia, are the result of your consistent peacebuilding efforts,” Aliyev wrote.

● The Azerbaijani government has repatriated 23 citizens from Syria — 7 women and 16 children. They have been placed in a social services facility and, after completing rehabilitation programs, will be returned to their places of residence. The agency noted that more than 600 Azerbaijani citizens have been brought back from Syria with government assistance over the past several years.

Top stories in Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia from 9-12 June, 2026