Daily Brief

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Monday, 23 February 2026

•3 min read

Armenia * Catholicos Karekin II has refused to testify in a case involving the defrocking of a senior priest. His attorney, Ara Zohrabyan, told journalists on Sunday that the criminal proceedings pressed against Karekin II for defrocking Bishop Gevorg Saroyan aimed at ‘hindering the Bishops’ Synod’ in Vienna, Austria. Karekin II was scheduled to take part in the meeting, but was placed under travel ban, forcing the bishops in Austria to downgrade the meeting to a simple gathering. Azerbaijan

Daily Brief

Friday, 20 February 2026

by OC Media

•3 min read

Regional * Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev participated in the inaugural session of the Peace Council in Washington. While in Washington, Pashinyan held brief conversations with Trump and US Vice President JD Vance in Washington, as well as Aliyev. Later, Pashinyan posted on social media that he was returning to Armenia ‘with greater confidence in peace’. * As details emerged about the meeting, Azerbaijani presidential aide Hikmat Hajiyev stated

Daily Brief

Thursday, 19 February 2026

by OC Media

•4 min read

Regional * Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan are both in the US to attend the first meeting of US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace today. Armenia * Armenian police have announced that the ‘full circle of individuals’ involved in the shootings on Wednesday afternoon in Yerevan was identified and ‘measures are being taken to locate them’. No further information has been provided about the incident as a result of which one person was killed

Daily Brief

Wednesday, 18 February 2026

by OC Media

•3 min read

Regional * South Ossetia and Abkhazia top Russian-state owned media group Russia Today’s ‘friendliness’ ranking in the post-Soviet world. South Ossetia has ranked first and Abkhazia second. Armenia has ranked eighth with Azerbaijan trailing behind at ninth place — both countries appear to have dropped in ranking from 2024. Armenia * Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has received Gert-Jan Koopman, the EU Director-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations. According to the Armenian

Daily Brief

Tuesday, 17 February 2026

by OC Media

•3 min read

Regional * On Monday consular consultations took place between the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry and the Foreign Ministry of Georgia in Baku. The parties discussed issues ‘related to protecting the rights and freedoms of citizens’ of both countries and agreed to ‘intensify cooperation’. * An Azerbaijani–Georgian–Turkish business forum will be held in Georgia’s Kakheti region on 26 February. According to Azerbaijani media outlet APA, the three countries’ economy ministers will all attend the fo

Daily Brief

Monday, 16 February 2026

by OC Media

•4 min read

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

Daily Brief

Friday, 13 February 2026

by OC Media

•4 min read

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