Armenia’s Foreign Policy
- On November 17, 2025, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met with the United States’ Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Allison Hooker, in Yerevan.
Meeting of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan with the U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Allison Hooker, on November 17, 2025, in Yerevan.
After the meeting, Hooker remarked that she and her hosts had discussed strengthening the strategic partnership between the two countries and the Trump Roadmap for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP). She said: “What a great day in Yerevan, following up on the U.S. President’s historic peace summit in August. I had productive discussions with Nikol Pashinyan, Ararat Mirzoyan, Armen Grigoryan, Vahan Kostanyan, and Ruben Rubinyan on strengthening the U.S.-Armenia strategic partnership. We have initiated working groups under the leadership of the U.S. President and Nikol Pashinyan to advance TRIPP, implement the U.S.-Armenia Memorandum of Understanding, and foster peace and prosperity.”
The U.S. Deputy Secretary of State announced his arrival in Yerevan to help implement the vision established at the Washington Summit. During the bilateral meeting, both sides discussed enhancing cooperation across trade, investment, infrastructure, regional communications, and security. The conversation also centered on the creation of bilateral working groups, which the U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, Sonata Coulter, will lead. These groups are tasked with implementing the agreements made in Washington and advancing the TRIPP initiative.
According to the official website of the Armenian Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan stated during his meeting with Allison Hooker that relations between Armenia and the United States have reached a new level. He emphasized that both the Armenian government and society are viewing their partnership with the U.S. in a fresh light. Pashinyan also highlighted the importance of promptly implementing the agreements reached at the Washington Peace Summit on August 8, 2025.
On November 21, 2025, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan visited Kazakhstan and met with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
The Tokayev-Pashinyan joint press conference in Astana on November 21, 2025
During the official visit, 15 intergovernmental and inter-agency documents were signed. These agreements cover various topics, including the protection of classified information, the allocation of land for diplomatic missions, and a trade and economic roadmap for the years 2026–2030. They also focus on cooperation across industry, agriculture, healthcare, science, education, digitalization, and the peaceful use of atomic energy. In addition, the package establishes new partnerships between national museums, libraries, and film industries.
A Kazakh-Armenian Business Council was established to engage companies in this process.
Armenia’s Domestic Politics
- On November 28, 2025, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met with a group of bishops from the Armenian Apostolic Church.
During the meeting, Pashinyan expressed his gratitude for their “principled position,” and connected the clergy’s views to broader concerns regarding values, the role of the Church, and the moral foundations of the state.
This meeting came after media outlets linked to Pashinyan’s party published a photo of a lengthy declaration signed by approximately a dozen bishops and archbishops. The document claimed that forensic medical examinations had confirmed the authenticity of intimate videos allegedly involving Arshak Khachatryan and accused Catholicos Garegin II of attempting to cover up the scandal.
Subsequently, some clergymen, whose names had appeared on the document, attempted to distance themselves from it.
Domestic Politics of Azerbaijan
- A group of communists was arrested in Baku for attempting to organize a march featuring the flags of the Soviet Union and the Azerbaijan SSR.
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan, the organizers, among them Abdullah Ibrahimli and Ibrahim Asadli, were identified and detained. A criminal case was opened regarding the incident, whereby it was found that Ibrahimli and Asadli had rented an office, where regular meetings took place with the backing of a foreign state, purportedly Russia.
Meeting of Russian and Azerbaijani Communists
During the search of that office, flags, propaganda materials, books, CDs, and digital devices promoting communist ideology were seized.
The investigation is ongoing.
- On November 29, 2025, Ali Karimli, the leader of the Azerbaijani opposition party ‘Popular Front of Azerbaijan,’ was arrested, according to an announcement from the party.
Earlier that day, representatives from the State Security Service of Azerbaijan had searched Karimli’s home as part of an investigation into a suspected coup attempt.
Radio Liberty also reported that the residence of Mammad Ibrahim, a member of the party’s presidium, was searched.
A Reuters source cited the case as connected to an investigation into Ramiz Mehdiyev, a former ally of the late Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev.
Karimli’s deputy, Seymur Hazi, informed Reuters that two party members, Faik Amirli and Mammad Ibrahim, had also been detained.
According to a government source, authorities suspect that Mehdiyev, who served as the head of the presidential administration under Heydar Aliyev from 1994, was responsible for financing the alleged coup attempt.
Last month, a court in Baku sentenced Mehdiyev, 87, to four months of house arrest after he was charged with various crimes, among them attempting to seize power.
Normalization of Armenian-Azerbaijani Relations
- On November 18, 2025, during the 23rd session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, parliamentary delegations from Armenia and Azerbaijan met in Istanbul.
Meeting of the parliamentary delegations of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Istanbul on November 18, 2025
The parties discussed the ongoing normalization process between the two countries, emphasized the importance of the agreements made at the Washington Summit in August, and shared perspectives on future steps.
Further, lawmakers from both countries discussed the role parliaments can play in rebuilding trust.
- On November 21-22, 2025, as part of the “Bridge of Peace” initiative, a group of Armenian civil society representatives visited Baku. During their visit, the participants met with Azerbaijani experts to discuss the dynamics of the peace process, the role of civil society, and potential joint projects.
The parties agreed on the importance of enhancing cooperation in the media sector, establishing direct contacts between expert groups, and continuing their working meetings in both Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Meeting of Armenian and Azerbaijani experts with Hikmet Hajiyev in Baku on November 22, 2025
The delegation was received by Hikmet Hajiyev, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan. They discussed the actions taken since the Washington Summit, and their common peace agenda.
- On November 22, 2025, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced that a referendum on Armenia’s new constitution would be held after the parliamentary elections scheduled for June 2026.
Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan
- On November 26, 2025, the Speaker of the Parliament of Armenia, Alen Simonyan, announced that he was ready to visit Baku.
He also noted that he is ready to invite his Azerbaijani counterpart, Sahiba Gafarova, to Yerevan.
- On November 28, 2025, a meeting of the Commission for the Delimitation and Demarcation of the State Border between Armenia and Azerbaijan was held in Gabala.
Meeting on the delimitation-demarcation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border in Gabala on November 28, 2025
Shahin Mustafayev, the Deputy Prime Minister of Azerbaijan, and Mher Grigoryan, the Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia, led the delegations.
After their meeting, the parties reported that they had focused on the delimitation and demarcation of the southern section of the border, where a transport corridor is expected to be established.
The next commission meeting will take place in Armenia.
Normalization of Armenian-Turkish Relations
- On November 18, 2025, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan stated in a speech to Parliament that the normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia would occur only after a peace treaty is signed between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Hakan Fidan, Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs
Hakan Fidan emphasized the importance of sequencing in the normalization process to prevent the conflict from becoming frozen.
He stated that two key issues must be addressed first: the Zangezur Corridor[1] and amendments to the Armenian Constitution. Once these matters are resolved, a peace agreement can be signed between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and the border between Turkey and Armenia can be opened.
- On November 28, 2025, the second meeting of technical delegations from Turkey and Armenia was held near the Turkish-Armenian border.
Meeting of the technical delegations of Turkey and Armenia at the border on November 28, 2025
The goal of these meetings is to rehabilitate and reactivate the Kars-Gyumri railway line.
[1] It is noteworthy that the Turkish foreign minister used the term “Zangezur Corridor,” which is more commonly employed by the Azerbaijani side.