The Region in Brief

Artsakh

Hovik Avanesov, cultural heritage ombudsman of Artsakh and vice president of the National Historical-Cultural NGO, said Azerbaijani authorities targeted another Armenian heritage site in Nagorno-Karabakh, desecrating a cemetery of fallen Armenian fighters in the village of Vaghuhas in the occupied Martakert region.

In a statement published on social media, Avanesov said monitoring of Azerbaijani online platforms revealed footage showing acts of vandalism at the cemetery. According to his analysis, the video contains evidence of “gross violations of cultural heritage protection norms, ethnic hatred and international humanitarian law.”

Avanesov said Armenian inscriptions and portraits of deceased fighters visible on the gravestones indicate that the site was targeted specifically because of its Armenian identity and symbolic significance.

“This is not ordinary vandalism, but a deliberate act motivated by ethnic hatred, aimed at erasing Armenian traces and historical memory,” he said.

According to the statement, the footage shows individuals walking over gravestones, standing on portraits of the deceased and damaging memorials.

He further claimed that numerous gravestones appeared broken, displaced or severely damaged, suggesting a “systematic and targeted destruction” of Armenian cultural heritage in territories occupied by Azerbaijan.

Avanesov also said the filming and circulation of the footage on social media were intended to exert psychological pressure on displaced Armenians, relatives of fallen soldiers and Armenian society as a whole.

The ombudsman’s office said it would not publish the video because of the potentially distressing nature of the material, but would instead keep records in its archives as evidence of crimes against Armenian cultural heritage.

Avanesov also criticized the inadequate response of the international community, saying attacks on cemeteries, memorials and cultural sites should receive “clear political, legal, and moral condemnation.”

Azerbaijan

Work on the delimitation and demarcation of the Armenia-Azerbaijan border is continuing, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said Thursday.

Bayramov described the process as “large-scale” and noted that Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev recently visited Armenia, where the sides signed three documents outlining procedures for the next stages of the border delimitation process. “Prior to that, a meeting involving the Armenian side was held in Azerbaijan. The process is ongoing,” Bayramov said.

The Azerbaijani foreign minister’s remarks came almost simultaneously with comments by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan regarding the border delimitation process. During a pre-election meeting with residents in Jermuk, Pashinyan said the process should be accelerated.

Georgia

In Akhaltsikhe, unidentified individuals removed religious icons from one of the churches in the village of Marda and left them beside a garbage container, according to a local outlet.

Georgia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs has launched an investigation into the incident under Article 155 of the Criminal Code, which pertains to the unlawful obstruction of religious rites and ceremonies.

Reports indicate that the church has long been the subject of a dispute between the Georgian Orthodox Church and the Armenian Apostolic Diocese. Religious services have reportedly not been held there for several years.

Fr. Hakob Sahakyan of the Armenian Apostolic Church said he does not know who removed the icons or why.

“I was there myself in the evening. Most likely, the incident took place late at night, after 2 a.m. Everything had been taken out — the icons and other religious items. Trash had been dumped on top of them. The icons were in very poor condition. We returned everything to the church and placed the items back where they belonged. We do not know who did this. No reasonable person would behave this way,” he said.

Iran

Iran has informed the United States that it will participate in the next round of negotiations only after five key conditions are met, according to Iran’s Fars news agency.

Tehran’s demands include an end to military conflicts across all fronts, particularly in Lebanon; lifting of U.S. sanctions against Iran; the unfreezing Iranian assets; compensation for damages caused by the war; and recognition of Iran’s sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran framed the conditions as necessary to establish a minimum level of trust before negotiations resume.

Meanwhile, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said in a post on X that genuine peace cannot be achieved through threats or coercion. He said Iran’s proposal had been rejected because it was “not a capitulation proposal,” adding that “the main issue is not peace, but the imposition of political will through threats and pressure.”

Iran reportedly presented its conditions in response to a U.S. proposal that called for Tehran to abandon its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

U.S. President Donald Trump described Iran’s counterproposal as “unacceptable.”

Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Armenia’s plans regarding possible accession to the European Union “require special discussion,” emphasizing that Moscow would support any decision that serves the interests of the Armenian people.

“It would be logical for Armenia to hold a referendum on participation in the European Union or the Eurasian Economic Union,” Putin said, noting that Armenia receives significant benefits within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union, or EAEU.

According to the Russian leader, Yerevan should decide whether to pursue integration with the EU or remain within the EAEU “as soon as possible” in order to proceed along what he described as a path of “intelligent separation.”

Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Moscow expects clarification from Yerevan over Armenia’s decision to provide Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with what he called a platform for “anti-Russian statements.”

“Armenia has the right to host any event, including a summit with the European Union. However, Moscow considers it abnormal that Yerevan provided Zelenskyy with a platform to make Russophobic statements,” Peskov said. “This is incompatible with the spirit of Russia-Armenia relations,” he added.

The remarks followed statements made by Zelenskyy during a plenary session of the European Political Community summit in Yerevan, where he issued a warning directed at Russia ahead of the May 9 Victory Day parade. “Fear-spreading drones will be buzzing over Moscow’s Red Square,” Zelenskyy said.