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Armenia * Armenian authorities have barred Catholicos Karekin II from leaving the country as part of a criminal case opened in January. He and several other clergy members are under investigation for allegedly failing to execute or obstructing the enforcement of a judicial act concerning a senior clergyman. The restriction came ahead of the Bishops’ Synod scheduled for 16–19 February in Austria. * In turn, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated he believes the purpose of holding the Synod in A
Regional * Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksei Overchuk has stated that Russia has ‘decided to begin substantive negotiations on the restoration of two sections of Armenian railways’, as requested by Yerevan. * Overchuk also noted that ‘work is underway to unblock all disrupted tracks in the Caucasus, including the possibility of restoring railway [connections] between Russia and Georgia through the territory of Abkhazia’. * An Azerbaijani delegation has travelled to Armenia to participate
Regional * Russia has not responded for the third month in a row to an official request from Armenia for legal assistance in the case concerning the murder of Chechen woman Aishat Baimuradova. Under the Chisinau Convention, Russia is obliged to respond to such requests as soon as possible, the Crisis Group NC SOS has stated. According to the organisation, the request from the Armenian authorities was sent on 10 December 2025. Armenia * Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has announced the possi
Regional * According to Georgia’s State Security Service (SSG), a Georgian who was detained in Akhalgori (Leningor) in August 2025 has been released and is now on territory controlled by the central government. The agency stated that ‘all relevant instruments available to the central authorities were actively used in the process of securing the release of the illegally detained Georgian citizen’. Armenia * Nancy Pelosi, the ex-US Speaker of the House of Representatives, called it ‘deeply d
