Amid focus on tensions with Iran, Vladimir Putin is quietly working to undermine the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace process and the proposed Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP). The corridor would reduce reliance on Russia and China by opening new trade routes and access to critical resources.
Through political pressure, economic measures, and disinformation, Russia is attempting to shift Armenia back into its sphere of influence ahead of key elections, according to Joseph Epstein of The National Interest. The outcome could determine whether the peace deal and regional economic integration move forward or collapse. Epstein writes:
The war with Iran has consumed Washington’s bandwidth for the last month and a half. But the conflict has distracted from more than Ukraine. In the South Caucasus, Russian President Vladimir Putin is waging a quiet campaign to reverse one of the Trump administration’s signature foreign policy achievements—the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace deal—and doing so on the cheap. […]
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov subsequently declared that Moscow “reserves the right” to discuss Armenia’s elections, as though the internal affairs of a sovereign nation were a matter for Russian approval. Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk warned that Armenia is approaching a “point of no return” and threatened to restructure economic relations—bureaucratic language for punishment.
Read more here.
