Saudi Arabia’s non-oil exports, including re-exports, rose 22.1 percent year on year in January to SR32.57 billion ($8.68 billion), driven by trade with the UAE, India, and China, official data showed, AzerNEWS reports, citing Arab News.
Day: March 26, 2026
Armenia row over “peace guarantor”
In the run-up to parliamentary elections in Armenia, debates between the authorities and the opposition have intensified. The most prominent topic in recent days is peace guarantees. The ruling Civil Contract party says Armenia and Azerbaijan have already established peace. Opposition figures argue that these claims amount to propaganda and say long-term peace requires “guarantors”.
“In recent days, our opposition circles have come down with ‘guarantor mania’. They previously refused to recognise that peace had been established. Now they speak about peace, but with guarantors,” Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said in parliament.
At the same time, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan recalled that Armenia once had a guarantor that tried to lead the country “to the scaffold”.
“Did we have a security guarantor in 2020? We did. Who was that guarantor? The Collective Security Treaty Organization. And that organisation led us to the slaughter,” Pashinyan said.
Armenia is a member of the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). Yerevan has frozen its participation in the bloc for a prolonged period, although its charter does not provide for such a step. The government suspended its involvement after Azerbaijani forces entered Armenia’s sovereign territory in 2021–2022. Yerevan asked its allies for assistance but did not receive it. The CSTO said the Armenia–Azerbaijan border had not been delimited.
“To say there is no border between Armenia and Azerbaijan means there is no CSTO. The CSTO has a zone of responsibility defined by borders. If there is no border, there is no zone of responsibility. If there is no zone of responsibility, there is no organisation,” the Armenian prime minister said.
Authorities and opposition views on guaranteed peace.
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The opposition speaks of a peace guaranteed by “powerful states”
Political forces planning to take part in the parliamentary elections have actively promoted the idea of the need for “peace guarantors”.
According to Robert Kocharyan, leader of the Armenia bloc and a former president, the peace agreement initialled by Armenia and Azerbaijan “has no legal basis”.
“We spoke about guaranteed peace. This means international guarantees and guarantor states,” he said.
Kocharyan added that peace cannot depend “on the goodwill of one person” — Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev.
The former president argues that the authorities’ “peace propaganda” amounts to populism. He says Nikol Pashinyan rejects guarantors because otherwise peace would not be associated with his name.
The Strong Armenia party also supports the idea of a “guaranteed peace”. Its leader is Russian dollar billionaire Samvel Karapetyan. He is under house arrest on charges of calling for a seizure of power. According to his nephew, Narek Karapetyan, a member of the party’s political council, the document will have no value without one or more guarantors:
“This is the only way to establish long-term peace in Armenia.”
Gagik Tsarukyan, leader of the Prosperous Armenia party, told journalists that peace cannot be merely formal.
“What kind of peace are we talking about if Azerbaijanis have entrenched themselves and set up positions on Armenian territory? All the preconditions are there. We must reach agreements with three, four, or five powerful states. We need contacts, connections, relations so that we have a guaranteed peace — so that not even a fly can pass over our territory,” Tsarukyan said, without naming any countries.
“An Armenian citizen is their own guarantor” — Pashinyan
The prime minister responded to opposition statements from the parliament rostrum:
“Do you know who guarantees Ukraine’s security? Russia. Do you know who guarantees Cyprus’s security? Turkey. Under international documents, Turkey has played a certain role.”
Pashinyan recalled that the CSTO once acted as Armenia’s security guarantor and led the country to the slaughter in 2020:
“Now that we have stepped off the path leading to the slaughter, they tell us: ‘Where are you going? Wait a moment.’”
According to Pashinyan, when the CSTO acted as Armenia’s security guarantor, the country was in “the status of a calf”:
“A guarantor is someone who throws a rope around the calf’s neck and guarantees that it has no right even to decide when to sacrifice itself. It can sacrifice itself only for the guarantor, when they say: ‘The time has come to slaughter you.’”
The prime minister said Armenia is no longer in that position and that its citizens now serve as the guarantor of peace and security.
‘A guarantor does not act for someone else’s ‘beautiful eyes’’ — foreign minister
Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan stressed that in international relations, a guarantor always acts in its own interests:
“In a world of cold calculation, no one becomes a guarantor, sheds the blood of their soldiers, or spends resources for someone else’s ‘beautiful eyes’.”
Mirzoyan said history offers many examples where even guaranteed and signed agreements were violated, sometimes by the guarantors themselves.
He argued that the peace established between Armenia and Azerbaijan has proven viable in a tense regional environment.
“Peace can last as long as it benefits both sides,” he added.
In this context, Yerevan’s goal, the foreign minister said, is to build a system of mutually beneficial cooperation with Baku. This, in turn, would help sustain long-term peace.
Armenia row over “peace guarantor”
NATO and Georgia
According to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte’s annual report, the South Caucasus remains an important region for the alliance’s security, particularly in light of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
The report highlights progress made towards peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the active involvement of the United States in the process, and the importance of the August peace agreement for regional stability. It says NATO is ready to deepen dialogue and cooperation with both countries.
As for Georgia, the report says that in light of the 2024 parliamentary elections and subsequent developments, the Alliance has reviewed some elements of cooperation, including the NATO–Georgia Substantial Package.
It notes that progress in the defence sector was marked by NATO–Georgia exercises held in May. According to Mark Rutte, NATO’s office in Tbilisi continues to actively engage with all three partners in the South Caucasus.
The report also says that Georgia is currently among the partners receiving support under the Alliance’s Defence Capacity Building initiative.
These countries include:
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Georgia
- Iraq
- Jordan
- Mauritania
- Moldova
- Tunisia
The main goal of the initiative is to strengthen partners’ capabilities so they can ensure their own defence, increase resilience, and contribute to regional security and stability
At a press conference, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said that despite serious concerns, it is necessary to maintain dialogue with Georgia. He noted that NATO works closely with the European Union and believes it makes sense to keep engaging with the country.
Mark Rutte: “First of all, when it comes to Georgia, we are in close coordination with the European Union. As for relations between NATO and Georgia, we believe it makes sense to maintain them. However, of course, we must also take recent developments into account.
That is why we call on Georgia to return to a more pro-European, future-oriented path and to ensure the continuation of its trajectory of democracy and the rule of law.
Clearly, there are serious grounds for concern at present. We are holding discussions, but we have also taken the position that it is better to maintain relations and use dialogue to address problematic issues than simply say we do not like what is happening and completely break off ties.”
NATO and Georgia
@SouthCaucasus @JAMnewsCaucasus There are no political prisoners in Georgia. Claims to the opposite is pure propaganda
— Natia (@Nataly161187) Mar 26, 2026