Benyamin Poghosyan argues in this op-ed for commonspace.eu that it is time for Armenia to deepen its relations with Iran and China, out of necessity rather than choice.

Last summer in Brussels, NATO leaders reconfirmed the 2008 Bucharest Summit decision that Georgia will become a member of NATO. In Tbilisi, the Secretary General praised Georgia's progress in making important reforms and encouraged it to continue these efforts.

The website of the Armenian government said that Nikol Pashinyan and Mamuka Bakhtadze "emphasised the importance of Armenian-Georgian relations in all spheres and expressed confidence that further active cooperation will promote the development and expansion of cooperation between the two neighbouring and friendly states in a number of directions".

Addressing the Council meeting in Geneva, ahead of the vote on Friday (22 March), Georgia's Deputy Foreign Minister, Lasha Darsalia, said that the recent death of Irakli Kvaratskhelia whilst in detention in Abkhazia highlighted the urgency of the matter.

Baku softened its rhetoric on Karabakh following the velvet revolution in Armenia. Nikol Pashinyan's statements however have disappointed Baku at a time when its room for manoeuvre is limited.

In the address on the occasion of the Novruz holiday the president of Azerbaijan said his country has entered a new period of reforms. "Reforms will be further deepened. There is no alternative to that. Political reforms, economic reforms, reforms in the social sphere, reforms in the judicial system"

In recent years Nazarbayev played a role of father figure in the councils of the institutions that succeeded the Soviet Union, such as the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Collective Security Treaty Organisation and the Eurasian Economic Union.

Armenian prime minister Nikol Pashinyan held a press conference in Yerevan on Tuesday, during which he reviewed progress in the work of his government and addressed a number of topical issues, including future negotiations to resolve the Karabakh conflict.

Ahead of the expected Armenia-Azerbaijan summit, Benyamin Poghosyan argues in this op-ed for commonspace.eu, that the negotiating paradigm based on the Madrid principles is doomed.

"In essence this is an olive branch to the government's critics", commonspace.eu political editor said in a comment. "Its significance should not be understated. President Aliyev has in the last weeks been preparing the country for major changes. This presidential pardon may well be the opening shot of more to come".