Russia cautious on Armenia-Azeri deal
Russia cautiously welcomed a US-brokered draft deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan on Saturday, but Moscow's regional ally Iran rejected the idea of a new border corridor backed by President Donald Trump.
The two former Soviet republics signed a peace deal in Washington on Friday to end a decades-long conflict, though the fine print and binding nature of the deal remained unclear.
The US-brokered agreement includes establishing a transit corridor through Armenia to connect Azerbaijan to its exclave of Nakhchivan, a longstanding demand of Baku.
The United States would have development rights for the corridor — dubbed the "Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity" — in the strategic and resource-rich region.
But Russia's ally and the warring parties' southern neighbour Tehran said it would not allow the creation of a such a corridor running along the Iranian border.
"With the implementation of this plot, the security of the South Caucasus will be endangered," Akbar Velayati, an advisor to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told the Tasnim news agency.
The planned corridor was "an impossible notion and will not happen", while the area would become "a graveyard for Trump's mercenaries", he added.
In a similar tone, Moscow said it would "further analyze" the corridor clause, noting there were trilateral agreements in place between Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, from which no one had yet withdrawn.
"It should not be ignored that Armenia's border with Iran is guarded by Russian border guards," said Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
Moscow, previously a key backer of Armenia, still has a military base there. Embroiled in its Ukraine operation, launched in 2022, it did not intervene in the latest conflict.
This has strained the historically warm ties between Yerevan and Moscow, home to a large and influential Armenian diaspora, triggering Armenia's drift towards the West.
Christian-majority Armenia and Muslim-majority Azerbaijan went to war twice over their border and the status of ethnic enclaves within each other's territories.
Moscow, once the main power broker in the Caucasus, is now bogged down in its more than three-year offensive in Ukraine, diverting political and military resources into the grinding conflict of attrition.
Both Armenia and Azerbaijan praised the US efforts in settling the conflict. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev even said he would back President Donald Trump's nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Express Tribune
26 minutes ago
- Express Tribune
Iran open to direct nuclear talks with US if conditions met
Atomic symbol and Iranian flag are seen in this illustration taken September 8, 2022. PHOTO: REUTERS Iran could hold direct nuclear talks with the United States if conditions are suitable, First Vice President Mohammadreza Aref said on Tuesday, according to state media. However, he dismissed US demands for Tehran to drop uranium enrichment entirely as 'a joke.' A sixth round of talks between Tehran and Washington was suspended following Israeli and US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in June. Both powers accuse Iran of seeking nuclear weapons, an accusation Tehran rejects. 'Iran is ready for negotiations under equal conditions in order to safeguard its interests... The Islamic Republic's stance is in the direction that people want and, should there be suitable conditions, we are even ready for direct talks,' Aref said. Also Read: Iran threatens planned Trump corridor envisaged by Azerbaijan-Armenia peace deal Previous rounds of negotiations, which began in April, were indirect and mediated by Oman. Washington maintains that uranium enrichment in Iran is a pathway to developing nuclear weapons and should be abandoned. On Sunday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian voiced support for resuming negotiations with the US despite the prevailing distrust. 'You don't want to talk? Well then, what do you want to do? Do you want to go to war? ... Going to talks does not mean we intend to surrender,' he said, adding that such matters should not be 'approached emotionally.' A senior commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Aziz Ghazanfari, responded on Monday, saying foreign policy requires discretion and that careless statements by authorities can have serious consequences for the country.
Business Recorder
an hour ago
- Business Recorder
US reaffirms counterterrorism cooperation with Pakistan amid warming ties
The United States on Tuesday reaffirmed its commitment to countering terrorism 'in all its forms' with Pakistan, as the two sides held the latest round of the US-Pakistan Counterterrorism Dialogue in Islamabad. 'We remain committed to countering terrorism in all its forms,' the US embassy in Islamabad said in a statement following the meeting. The engagement came a day after Washington added the proscribed Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and its Majeed Brigade to its Foreign Terrorist Organisation list, a move long sought by Islamabad. The designation underscored strengthened cooperation against terrorist threats, including IS-Khorasan and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. Co-chaired by Special Secretary (UN) Nabeel Munir and US Acting Coordinator for Counterterrorism Gregory LoGerfo, the dialogue emphasised building stronger institutional frameworks and addressing emerging threats, including the misuse of new technologies. The talks follow a string of high-level engagements in recent months, including Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir's two visits to Washington and FM Ishaq Dar's meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Express Tribune
2 hours ago
- Express Tribune
Ukraine targets drone facility in Russia's Tatarstan
A Ukrainian emergency responder works to extinguish a fire at the site of a missile attack in Sumy on April 13, 2025. PHOTO: Ukrainian Emergency Service via AFP Listen to article Ukraine's SBU intelligence agency said on Tuesday its drones struck a building in Russia's Tatarstan region containing long-range Shahed attack drones, located about 1,300 km (800 miles) from Ukraine. The SBU noted this was the second such strike in four days, adding that videos filmed by local residents confirmed the facility had been hit. Earlier, Ukraine's military said on Tuesday it was engaged in 'difficult' combat near the cities of Pokrovsk and Dobropillia and had deployed reserves to block advances by small groups of Russian troops. The General Staff stated that some groups attempting to bypass Ukraine's defensive lines in the area had already been destroyed, while others were being engaged by Ukrainian forces. Read more: Kallas warns against US-Russia deal on Ukraine without Kyiv and EU involvement EU on Ukraine future Ukrainians must have the freedom to decide their own future, European Union member states said on Tuesday, weighing in ahead of talks between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday. European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy plan to speak with Trump on Wednesday, before the summit in Alaska, amid fears that Washington, hitherto Ukraine's leading arms supplier, might dictate unfavourable peace terms to Kyiv.
