Armenia and Azerbaijan, two sworn enemies, unite against Putin – The Telegraph

Two sworn enemies – Armenia and Azerbaijan – are uniting to push Vladimir Putin out of the South Caucasus, reports The Daily Telegraph.

The article opens by outlining the dramatic deterioration of Russian-Azerbaijani relations, including arrests, threats and public confrontations.

"Then came the threat, on Russian state TV, that Baku could be ‘taken in three days’ – echoing rhetoric used before the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. War is unlikely. But the rift is real – and dangerous for Moscow..."

On July 10, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met for direct talks focused on the "Zangezur Corridor" – a proposed route linking Azerbaijan to Nakhchivan via southern Armenia.

"The corridor would fulfil a pan-Turkic dream… Under the 2020 ceasefire agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the route was to be monitored by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB). But that arrangement is now under threat, with Mr Aliyev wanting to cut Moscow out of the deal and have it fully under Azerbaijani control," reads the article.

“This is Russia’s last big card in the region,” said Neil Melvin, director of international security at the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi).

“It allows them to control trade routes and leverage relationships with both Armenia and Azerbaijan. Losing it would be a major blow.”

"Although the talks on July 10 were inconclusive, momentum is shifting," the article stated.