Opinion66- Page

The expert communities in Baku and Yerevan continue to discuss the verdict of the UN International Court of Justice on Azerbaijan's and Armenia's appeals.

Criminal oligarch Ruben Vardanyan is becoming Karabakh separatists' "hot potato" they can neither bear to throw away nor hold in their hands.

As the first anniversary of the full-scale war in Ukraine approaches, it is evident that international relations across the globe and the balance of power in the surrounding region have been impacted by the fallout of this war.

The Munich Security Conference continues, but its most intriguing stage for the South Caucasus audiences seems to be over. The Bavarian capital also hosted a meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and a plenary session "Moving Mountains? Building Security in the South Caucasus", with new direct debates between Ilham Aliyev and Nikol Pashinyan.

Over the past three decades, friendly interstate relations between Azerbaijan and Israel reached the level of strategic alliance, based on mutual understanding on most international issues, and strong defence and energy ties.

Türkiye and Armenia earthquake dialogue is indeed a helpful tool to rekindle relations with the neighbouring country but would be insufficient in this case.

As the war in Ukraine continues, the relationship between the European Union and Russia continues to deteriorate. In recent days, the German authorities raided firms suspected of violating anti-Russian sanctions. 

Athousand miles from Russia’s crumbling front line in Donbass, their military and political influence over another distant part of their former empire may be strengthening. 

We have new information about Ruben Vardanyan, a Russian billionaire of Armenian origin, who has been living illegally in Karabakh, where he recently declared himself "state minister", since last fall.

Throughout 2022, Baku pursued a more activist foreign policy due to developments in the South Caucasus and the surrounding regions.

Armenian media are reporting that the runaway Russian billionaire Ruben Vardanyan, who was smuggled to Armenia by Russian peacekeepers via secret routes on February 6, has been returned to Khankendi.

An Israeli medical delegation helped correct the facial appearance of dozens of wounded Azerbaijani soldiers.

The Iranian regime and its dominant force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, continue their information and propaganda war against Azerbaijan.

Hamstrung by bloated bureaucracy, riddled with nepotism and corrupt practices of the most egregious nature and completely out of its depth in setting the global agenda, UNESCO is fast falling into a state of intractable disrepute from which there seems no immediate salvation.

President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola sent a letter to the Speaker of the Milli Majlis of Azerbaijan Sahiba Gafarova. We obtained a photocopy of this letter from credible sources.

Azerbaijan sent the largest number of rescue workers. It is quite logical. Azerbaijani and Turkish peoples are fraternal nations with common linguistic and ethnic roots.

On 9th February the OSCE Permanent Council was supposed to discuss and condemn a deadly armed attack against the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Iran, which happened on 27th January. The debate did not occur when it was scheduled on 2nd February.

The wicked attack on the Azerbaijani embassy in Tehran has done nothing to deter Azerbaijan’s growing friendship with Israel.

Iranian diplomacy has once again embarrassed itself. Iranian Ambassador to Armenia Abbas Badakhshan Zohouri took part in the discussions on "Armenian-Iranian relations in the context of common interests," where he made a whole series of absurd statements.

The spread of false information and propaganda by Armenians with the aim of misleading the international community and avoiding accountability for their illegal activities on the internationally recognized territories of Azerbaijan is a well-known issue.

As Russia and Iran grow weaker while China and Turkey are mired in economic crises, Israel is shifting its diplomatic focus to the Caucasus and Central Asia.

In truth, Armenia remains significantly dependent on Russia economically, as manifested by the close to 70-percent growth in bilateral trade turnover between the two countries in 2022.

The actions of certain members of Congress, such as Adam Schiff and Nancy Pelosi, to promote separatist entities and provide legitimacy to individuals with criminal affiliations have raised concerns regarding the stance of the United States.

Rather than continuing to exhibit a one-sided posture that parrots the Russian position, the US must genuinely work with both Armenia and Azerbaijan in the pursuit of peace and regional stability.