Category: Azer News

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has addressed the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, saying that the peace established between Armenia and Azerbaijan has opened new opportunities for the South Caucasus.

In his address, Pashinyan said the implementation of the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) project, alongside the expansion of regional connectivity, could enable not only Armenia but the entire South Caucasus to become a ‘Crossroads of Peace.’

He also discussed the implementation of the August 8, 2025, Washington Peace Summit agreements, Armenia’s planned participation in the TRIPP Development Company, the restoration of railway links, relations with Azerbaijan and Trkiye, Armenia’s foreign policy, and unresolved issues stemming from the conflict.

Pashinyan also said Armenia would continue developing relations with its neighbors and international partners, while emphasizing that the signing and ratification of the peace agreement with Azerbaijan remained a major item on the bilateral agenda.

Below is the full transcript of Prime Minister Pashinyan’s speech, as published by the Prime Minister’s Office:

‘Honorable President of the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen;

The peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, established on August 8, 2025, with the support and personal engagement of US President Donald Trump, has opened up new opportunities for our region, the South Caucasus.

On this occasion, I would firstly like to address what President Trump referred to from this podium two days ago. I have said it and I reiterate it now: the breakthrough in the establishment of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan simply would not have been possible without President Trump’s personal engagement and his resolute commitment to establishing peace.

President Trump’s personal presence, by the way, has practical and symbolic expressions on the ground as well.

The fourth paragraph of the Peace Declaration adopted at the Peace Summit held at the White House on August 8, 2025 states: ‘The Republic of Armenia will work with the United States of America and mutually determined third parties, to set forth a framework for the ‘Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity’ (TRIPP) connectivity project in the territory of the Republic of Armenia. We confirm our determination to pursue efforts in good faith to achieve this goal in the most expeditious manner.’

The implementation of the TRIPP project is thus becoming a reality with tangible steps. The Framework Agreement on Strategic Cooperation on the ‘Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity’ project signed between Armenia and the United States of America will soon be ratified by the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia.

We are currently working with the United States government to establish the TRIPP Development Company and sign a shareholders agreement.

Accordingly, Armenia will initially have a 26 percent stake in the TRIPP Development Company, and the United States will have a 74 percent stake. The agreement provides that in the event of its extension, in the 50th year, the Republic of Armenia’s share will become 49 percent, without additional investment.

One of the practical expressions of the TRIPP project will be the implementation of paragraph 3 of the Peace Declaration, adopted by me and the President of Azerbaijan on August 8, 2025, and signed by the President of the United States as a witness.

Paragraph 3 of the Declaration states: ‘We reaffirmed the importance of the opening of communications between the two countries for intra-state, bilateral, and international transportation for the promotion of peace, stability, and prosperity in the region and in its neighborhood on the basis of respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and jurisdiction of the States. These efforts are to include unimpeded connectivity between the main part of the Republic of Azerbaijan and its Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic through the territory of the Republic of Armenia with reciprocal benefits for international and intrastate connectivity for the Republic of Armenia.’

The implementation of the TRIPP project will be of historic importance for the Republic of Armenia. For the first time since the early 1990s, Armenia will get railway connection with Azerbaijan, and thus with Russia, Central Asia and China. However, it should be emphasized that after the Peace Summit on August 8, 2025, Azerbaijan opened its railway to Armenia, and now we have a railway connection with Azerbaijan through the territory of Georgia.

The implementation of the TRIPP project will create a direct railway connection between Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as a railway connection from Azerbaijan to Azerbaijan through the territory of Armenia and from Armenia to Armenia through the territory of Azerbaijan, because Armenia does not have a railway connection between its northern and southern regions, and this is practically possible only through the territory of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of the Republic of Azerbaijan, while Azerbaijan does not have a railway connection with its Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic and this is practically possible only through the territory of Armenia.

In the near future, we will restore the railway sections of Meghri and Yeraskh in the Republic of Armenia that existed during the Soviet Union and were later destroyed, and the railway connections I mentioned will be opened.

But this will also have a huge international significance, because in parallel with the construction of the aforementioned railways, we are waiting for the opening of the Armenia-Trkiye railway.

Together with the TRIPP project, this could become one of the most important events in the field of international logistics in recent decades, because thus a new railway connection will be opened between China, Central Asia, Trkiye and the European Union.

All this opens up another crucial opportunity for international logistics, because the restoration of the railway connection between Armenia and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of the Republic of Azerbaijan restores the railway connection between the Persian Gulf and the Black Sea. This is an important nuance, because it shows why and how the implementation of the TRIPP project promises great benefits to all countries in our region, and these potential benefits can become a cornerstone of long-term stability and peace.

Especially between Armenia and Azerbaijan. After almost 35 years of conflict, we are now discussing issues of building pipelines, power lines, and roads in addition to the east-west railway within the framework of the TRIPP project, and this will enable not only the Republic of Armenia, but also the entire South Caucasus to become a Crossroads of Peace.

Honorable President of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen;

All of this reflects the optimism that has been established in our region and in the Republic of Armenia since the Washington Peace Summit on August 8, 2025. The citizens of Armenia reaffirmed their optimism in the parliamentary elections held on June 7 of this year, where the overwhelming majority of voters voted in favor of the slogan ‘Stand up for peace,’ enabling the ‘Civil Contract’ party to form a parliamentary majority.

The elections took place under special circumstances of external information manipulation, and a number of external and internal forces were developing and implementing a plan to seize the state, using mass disinformation, hybrid and other tools, as well as the distribution of mass voter bribes.

But the democratic and institutional reforms we have implemented in recent years proved their strength, and Armenia’s state institutions demonstrated high resilience, preventing state seizure and giving the people of Armenia the opportunity to have their say.

The people of Armenia have upheld the peace, and we must consistently engage in the further strengthening and institutionalization of peace.

In the relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the clarification of the fate of several thousand missing persons is a matter that needs to be addressed, on which we have reached an agreement to cooperate with Azerbaijan. Armenia is ready to continue and deepen cooperation with Azerbaijan on the issue of demining. And of course, people in the Republic of Armenia are waiting for the return of Armenians who were detained in Azerbaijan as a consequence of the conflict.

Along with these issues still being unresolved, another reason that fuels pessimists is the use of conflict rhetoric from time to time in certain circles of Armenia and Azerbaijan, sometimes at the official level. I think that we, I mean Armenia and Azerbaijan, have achieved more than sufficient results, which should be more valuable for us than the use of conflict rhetoric, whether it is about history or historical-cultural monuments or anything else.

Nurturing the peace, strengthening and making it institutional should be the main theme of cooperation between Armenia and Azerbaijan. For two and a half years now, there have been no casualties or injuries as a result of cross-fire between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and I believe this is the greatest value that has been created as a result of the recent years.

We have never had such a period in the relations between independent Armenia and independent Azerbaijan before, even though Armenians and Azerbaijanis have centuries of experience of peaceful coexistence.

Our task, however, is not to restore that historical experience, but to build interstate relations on the basis of that experience of the peoples, based on respect for each other’s territorial integrity, sovereignty, and political independence. This, by the way, is exactly the rhetoric that Armenia and Azerbaijan have already agreed upon and initialed in the text of the agreement on establishing peace and interstate relations between the two countries.

The signing and ratification of the agreement, which was initialed at the Washington Peace Summit, is the next major topic in the joint agenda of Armenia and Azerbaijan, and we will consistently continue to work in this direction.

Ladies and Gentlemen;

The balanced and balancing foreign policy adopted by Armenia stems from the logic of multipolarity, which is one of the key principles of the United Nations. In recent years, we have established strategic relations with Georgia, France, China, the Netherlands, Kazakhstan, Germany, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom, Bulgaria, Croatia, Lithuania, the United States of America, and the European Union.

Today, by the way, the European Commission approved the decision to adopt autonomous trade measures for Armenia, which is yet another manifestation of the new quality of Armenia-EU relations.

Our relations with Russia are in a transformation phase, and this is a natural process, because throughout the entire preceding period, the largest factor influencing relations between Armenia and Russia was the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict.

Now that we have established peace with Azerbaijan, Armenia-Russia relations will naturally change, and it is our desire that these relations develop on the basis of the principles of friendship and mutual respect.

We will, of course, continue to develop our relations with our partners located closer to or farther from Armenia, and in this regard, I would like to highlight the countries of Central Asia, with which our relations are also highly dynamic.

But I also cannot but emphasize that the normalization and deepening of relations with our neighbors are nevertheless of key importance for our foreign policy vision. I have already spoken about the dynamics of our relations with Azerbaijan.

We have a high-level dialogue with Trkiye, and I want to confirm the words expressed by President Erdogan from this podium the other day, that we are resolutely advancing the process of normalizing Armenia-Trkiye relations.

Our relations with our two other neighbors, the Islamic Republic of Iran and Georgia, remain of exceptional importance to us, and our good neighborliness continues to develop and deepen.

The Republic of Armenia considers its contribution to the region’s stability and development to be our key task in international peace, stability, and development.

Honorable President of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen;

This October, Armenia will host the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (COP17), and I invite you all to participate in this very important event for Armenia and for the international biodiversity agenda.

Dear ladies and gentlemen, this is what I wanted to share with you in my speech today. Thank you for your attention.’

The Pentagon will allocate $500 million for the production of military laser systems designed to destroy unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and cruise missiles.

The US military is already using laser weapons in the Strait of Hormuz to intercept aerial targets as part of the conflict in the Middle East. The weapons are also being tested along the US southern border as part of efforts to combat drug cartels.

The report notes that using lasers is significantly cheaper than conventional surface-to-air missiles and can reduce reliance on stocks of traditional ammunition.

The NY Post said modern systems, including the 60-kilowatt High Energy Laser with Integrated Optical-dazzler with Surveillance (HELIOS), are mainly installed on warships because of their large size and high power requirements.

The newspaper also noted that some of these systems can be operated using modified controllers based on those designed for Xbox gaming consoles.

‘Our country’s global strategic partnerships and growing foreign investment in the non-oil sector are paving the way for deeper integration into global value chains in areas such as manufacturing, trade, energy, digital transformation, artificial intelligence, and advanced technologies,’ President Ilham Aliyev said in his address to the participants of the 2nd Azerbaijan International Investment Forum.

‘These positive trends have also been recognized by international rating agencies. Fitch and Moody’s have upgraded Azerbaijan’s sovereign credit ratings to investment grade, with the outlook for the next period assessed as ‘stable’ and ‘positive’ respectively. Our financial resilience is further underscored by strategic currency reserves, which exceeded 110% of GDP at the end of 2025,’ the head of state said in his address.

‘Located at the intersection of the East-West and North-South corridors, Azerbaijan has become an important link and gateway between Asia and Europe. The Middle Corridor links Central Asia across the Caspian Sea with the South Caucasus, Trkiye and Europe, while the emerging Zangezur Corridor, also known as the TRIPP connectivity route, will further strengthen Azerbaijan’s role as a regional hub, and create new opportunities for trade, investment and industrial cooperation across Eurasia,’ the Azerbaijani leader added.

A special Paddock tour has been organized for young people with autism as part of the 10th anniversary edition of the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

According to the Baku City Circuit, the young participants had the opportunity to explore the behind-the-scenes activities of Formula 1 race week and experience the atmosphere of the Paddock up close as part of a social inclusion initiative.

During the visit, the young people toured areas where Formula 1 teams were operating, observed the preparations for race week and saw first-hand how the teams were getting ready for the main day of the Grand Prix.

The coordinator of the Birge ve Saglam Public Union thanked the Baku City Circuit Operations Company for the opportunity, saying: “It was very interesting and memorable for the young people to see the Formula 1 race up close, spend time in the Paddock and experience this special atmosphere. Creating such opportunities is very valuable to us.”

The initiative is among the traditional activities carried out as part of Formula 1’s social responsibility programmes.

United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Friday that the US and China reached an agreement with China on a “subset” of goods and that the two countries are now in a “managed trade situation.”

However, he said areas such as artificial intelligence chips, export controls and national security were not discussed.

Greer also claimed there is “no urgency” to conclude a trade deal with Canada as the US is still importing goods such as oil, gas and potash from its northern neighbor. He said that US President Donald Trump is “comfortable” with the situation as it is, while Canada “wants a deal.”

Max Verstappen set the fastest time in the third and final practice session of the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

The Red Bull Racing driver completed the session at the Baku City Circuit in 1:43.922, finishing fastest ahead of qualifying.

Mercedes driver George Russell was second in 1:44.021, while Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton took third with a time of 1:44.033. Hamilton’s teammate Charles Leclerc and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly completed the top five.

Russell had posted the fastest times in both the first and second practice sessions.

The final practice session was also marked by an incident, with Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll forced to stop his car after touching the barrier at Turn 1.

The drivers have now completed all three practice sessions ahead of qualifying. The qualifying session is scheduled to begin at 16:00 today.

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix will take place at the Baku City Circuit on September 26

France plans to deploy troops, radar systems and air-defense equipment to Saudi Arabia to help protect an oil refinery and a crude oil pipeline at the Red Sea port of Yanbu.

French President Emmanuel Macron said the deployment was agreed upon with Saudi authorities and stressed that Paris was “not getting involved in any conflict.”

Macron linked the rise in oil prices primarily to the international situation, saying France was seeking to address the causes of the crisis through diplomatic means. Paris is also participating in efforts to restore traffic through the Strait of Hormuz while looking for alternative sources of energy supplies.

France plans to raise the issue of energy security with G7 countries in the coming weeks.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Yanbu has become a major hub for supplying diesel, crude oil and other petroleum products to Europe since the start of the war with Iran, allowing Saudi exports to bypass the Strait of Hormuz.

The pipeline’s operations were suspended on September 11 following attacks by Iraqi armed groups and resumed on September 22.

Earlier, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Energy suspended operations of the East-West oil pipeline along sections in the Medina and Riyadh regions following several attacks.

Azerbaijan’s State Program for the Development of the Mining and Metallurgy Industry for 2027-2030 is a large-scale industrial plan designed to form new production chains within the country’s non-oil industry. The core essence of the program is to process Azerbaijan’s mineral resources domestically as much as possible, create higher added value, and ultimately supply more finished and semi-finished industrial products to foreign markets.

According to the official presentation, a total of 5.3 billion AZN in investments is envisioned within the framework of the program for 2027-2030. Of this amount, 1.1 billion AZN is expected to be formed from the state budget, 2.2 billion AZN from the funds and borrowed capital of state-owned enterprises, and 2 billion AZN from private sector funds and borrowed capital. Thus, approximately 80% of the total investment is planned to be attracted from non-budgetary sources.

As a result of these investments, the contribution of the mining and metallurgy sector to GDP is projected to increase from 700 million AZN in 2025 to 1.8 billion AZN in 2030, while the sector’s annual export potential is expected to rise from 1.3 billion AZN to 3.4 billion AZN. In other words, the goal is to increase the added value and annual export potential of the sector by approximately 2.6 times.

This is where the main change begins: instead of extracting and selling raw ore, Azerbaijan seeks to generate more revenue from processing that ore domestically.

For example, the Dashkesan iron ore project is one of the clearest examples of this model. It envisages the creation of an enterprise capable of producing 2 million tons of hot briquetted iron (HBI) annually. It is reported that approximately 1.7 million tons of this will form export potential. HBI is no longer just a mining product; it is a processed raw material used in steel production.

Thus, the economic chain does not end with the extraction of iron ore: the ore is enriched, then transformed into the production of pellets and HBI, resulting in a higher-value raw material for the steel industry.

The next stage of this chain is the production of more steel and metal products within Azerbaijan. In other words, the goal is both to generate revenue from HBI exports and, if used in domestic metallurgy, to reduce the need for imported raw materials for steel producers. This can expand domestic production opportunities for construction, mechanical engineering, agricultural machinery, metal structures, and other fields.

A similar approach is applied to non-ferrous metals. The integration of copper, zinc, and lead reserves in the Filizchay deposit into economic circulation is planned. This is significant in terms of introducing new metal products into Azerbaijan’s export basket. Within the State Program, the economic potential of the Zaylik alunite deposit will also be evaluated separately. The goal here is to explore the possibilities of creating a raw material base from alunite for the production of alumina and subsequently aluminum.

In the aluminum sector, Ganja’s “Azeraluminium” electrolysis plant aims to reach an annual production capacity of 100,000 tons. In addition, the feasibility of creating a new primary aluminum plant with a capacity of approximately 200,000 tons per year is being studied. An important point here is that the 200,000-ton plant is not yet a confirmed project; its economic efficiency, investor capabilities, and technical parameters are currently being evaluated.

At a lower downstream stage, the conversion of aluminum into rolled products is envisioned. The State Program plans to increase the annual production capacity of rolled aluminum products to 50,000 tons and promote the local production of items such as profiles, wires, cables, foils, sheets, strips, and beverage cans.

This distinction is crucial. Selling a ton of raw material does not yield the same economic outcome as selling a ton of finished industrial product. Along with processing raw materials, the production of finished goods creates economic value through energy, labor, technology, logistics, engineering, packaging, and other services. Therefore, the core philosophy of the program is essentially the transition from “ore to metal, metal to product.”

This model can also alter Azerbaijan’s overall export structure. Currently, the weight of oil and gas in the country’s foreign trade remains very high. At the same time, growth in non-oil-and-gas exports is observed. According to the State Statistical Committee, in January-July 2026, total exports amounted to $20.14 billion, while non-oil-and-gas exports reached $5.93 billion. The 2.8-fold increase in non-oil-and-gas exports compared to the same period of the previous year demonstrates the formation of new channels in the structure of foreign sales.

The 2.6-fold increase in the export potential of the mining and metallurgy sector by 2030 can be evaluated as part of this diversification process. This does not mean that oil and gas exports will necessarily decrease in absolute physical terms. However, if exports of new metals, aluminum, gold, and other industrial products expand rapidly, the share of oil and gas in the total export basket may decline relatively.

Another significant factor is the ongoing shift in Azerbaijan’s energy policy. The expansion of green energy production could impact both the formation of new export products and the domestic energy balance in the future. Azerbaijan plans to increase renewable energy capacities by 2030 and develop regional energy interconnections for exporting green electricity to Europe. Official announcements have also mentioned the possibility of reaching 6 GW of solar and wind energy capacity by 2030.

This is where the connection between green energy and industry emerges. A significant portion of electricity generation in Azerbaijan is still carried out by burning natural gas in thermal power plants. Increasing the share of solar, hydropower, and wind energy in production can partially replace the use of gas in the electrical grid. This can create an additional opportunity to free up a portion of gas from electricity generation, redirecting it toward exports and other industrial needs.

The President of Azerbaijan stated in 2025 that increased green energy production would allow for savings on natural gas used for electricity domestically and its redirection to exports. The European Commission has also noted that domestic production of renewable energy can help save natural gas, making more gas available for exports and increasing industrial competitiveness.

From this perspective, it is no coincidence that a section of the 69-kilometer Hajigabul-Gazakh mainline gas pipeline is slated for renovation in 2027-2028 to provide gas to the metallurgical plant in Dashkesan. New industrial enterprises require large volumes of stable and reliable energy supplies. Consequently, the mining-metallurgy program is not just about mines and plants; behind it lies the expansion of gas, electricity, railways, ports, logistics, and other infrastructure.

As a result, a more complex yet diversified industrial model is taking shape for Azerbaijan. While oil and gas will continue to serve as the country’s primary export and energy pillars, the growth of processing sectors-such as mining and metallurgy, aluminum, gold, copper, zinc, lead, and steel-can transform the structure of non-oil exports. Meanwhile, the expansion of green energy creates new opportunities for this industrial model in terms of additional energy resources and alternative uses for natural gas.

The main point, transcending the figures themselves, is the production logic behind those numbers: Azerbaijan’s objective is not merely to extract more ore, but to generate more products, greater added value, and higher export revenues from the ore it extracts. The combined impact of the 5.3 billion AZN investment program, a 2.6-fold increase in added value and export potential, new metallurgy and aluminum capacities, and growing green energy opportunities can enable Azerbaijan’s non-oil industry to secure a larger share within the export structure.

Cryptocurrency exchange Bitget has been hacked, resulting in the theft of $351.6 million. Withdrawals have been temporarily suspended, while access to deposits and trading remains available. The incident could become the largest crypto hack of the year.

Bitget’s systems detected unauthorized transfers on the evening of September 24. Several IP addresses linked to the thefts were identified. According to Bitget CEO Gracy Chen, the addresses are connected to North Korea.

“We will not shy away from responsibility. Every dollar and every decision will be accounted for in full,” Chen wrote on social media X.

The company’s insurance fund, which holds more than $464 million, will cover the losses.

Chen also noted that the attackers exploited a vulnerability in part of the platform’s backend by using spoofed transfers.

Despite the incident, cryptocurrency prices have shown little reaction. Major digital assets remain at roughly the same levels as the previous day, retaining gains of several percent since the beginning of the week and up to 10% since the start of the month.

The broader macroeconomic backdrop remains unfavorable, with yields on almost all types of US government bonds continuing to rise, along with expectations of another Federal Reserve rate hike at the end of October.

U.S. President Donald Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that Ukraine would receive licenses to produce Patriot missiles, Zelensky said following a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

‘President Trump emphasized during our latest meeting: ‘Yes, I have made the final decision – Ukraine will receive licenses to produce Patriot missiles,” Zelensky told journalists on Friday.

The Patriot is a U.S.-made surface-to-air missile defense system designed to counter a range of aerial and missile threats. The system can detect, track and engage various targets, including aircraft, cruise missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles and tactical ballistic missiles.