Day: January 22, 2026
Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders have expressed hopes that trade between the two countries will no longer require transit through Georgian territory as their relations improve, amid some fears in Tbilisi about the future of Georgia’s role in the region.
At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where Georgian officials were again absent after receiving no invitation for the second year in a row, Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev spoke at a January 20 panel discussion, alongside their Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vučić and Turkish representative Ebru Özdemir, chair of Limak Holding.
“I am sure we will be able, one day, to receive this cargo directly through our own territories,” Armenian President Khachaturyan said, adding that he is sure the two countries can have “direct transportation” between Baku and Armenia, as well as from Nakhchivan to Armenia.
“We will overcome the problems that we created in the 1990s,” he said. “What is very important is that we are both looking forward.”
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that Baku has begun economic cooperation with Yerevan after peace was established “de facto,” noting that Azerbaijan lifted “all restrictions on the transportation of cargo to Armenia from Kazakhstan and from Russia, and now we have a request from the Armenian side to provide transit from Armenia to Russia.”
“So we de facto unilaterally opened the corridors,” he continued. “Yes, transportation goes through Georgia, but one day it will go through Armenia. One day, Armenia [Armenian cargo] will go directly through Azerbaijan, and that day is not too far away.”
The remarks from the two leaders come amid improving relations following a U.S.-brokered peace agreement signed last August and the development of the proposed Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP), a transport corridor linking Azerbaijan with its Nakhchivan exclave via southern Armenia.
While Georgian Dream authorities have not immediately commented, opposition voices, including the Lelo/Strong Georgia party, have warned that Georgia is “losing its position as a transit country and as a reliable partner to the West.” In a January 21 statement on social media, the party said that as Azerbaijan and Armenia develop new transit routes with Western backing, Georgia is “not only failing to acquire any new role but is also losing the opportunities it currently holds.”
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- 09/08/2025 – Georgia Reacts to U.S.-Brokered Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Deal
The European Commission has launched a procedure under a new mechanism to suspend visa-free travel for Georgian holders of diplomatic, service, and official passports, Commission Spokesperson Markus Lammert said at a January 21 midday briefing, adding that the suspension will apply across all EU Member States, with the possibility of extending it to the entire Georgian population in the future.
Noting that visa-free travel is aimed at enhancing “people-to-people contacts” and promoting “shared values,” including “respect for human rights and democratic principles,” Lammert said, “The Commission considers that the actions of the Georgian authorities undermine these principles” and are “inconsistent with the norms and values of the Union,” while also hampering the “steady development of economic, humanitarian, cultural, scientific and other ties between the Union and Georgia.”
“Now, as a first step, the Commission has transmitted its assessment to Parliament and the Council. Once adopted, the actions will ensure that a uniform application of the suspension for these diplomatic passport holders in all member states will take place,” he stated.
Asked whether the suspension could apply to the general population, Lammert said that if there is “continued backsliding,” the Commission could extend it to the entire population, while stressing that such an extension is “not automatic.”
When asked whether the EU could target individuals instead of passports, since diplomats often hold regular passports, he said the suspension targets passports, not people.
Georgian diplomatic and service passport holders lost visa-free travel privileges in January 2025, but the measure required individual approvals from member states. The new suspension is based on a new legal framework Lammert described as “more flexible” and “notably faster,” with the difference being “uniform application by member states.” “Before this was more a form of recommendation, and now we can ensure that there is a uniform application by member states,” he said.
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