Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Process

The hosts argue Armenia could have tied TRIPP to the release of Armenians held in Baku, and ask why it refused the leverage.

In this episode of Groong Week in Review for November 1, 2026, we examine regional escalation risks and domestic political turmoil in Armenia. We discuss renewed Iran War threats alongside the Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Process stalemate, municipal elections under government pressure, parliamentary violence endorsed by leadership, TRIPP and constitutional changes, widening strains between Azerbaijan and Turkey, Armenian Prisoners of War dossiers, and state interference in the Armenian Church—exposing a government prioritizing domestic confrontation over serious preparation for regional conflict.

Hamparian explains Abe Hamadeh’s F: co-sponsoring the repeal of Section 907 and advocating a peace deal that rewards Azerbaijan.

Hamparian on Anna Paulina Luna’s F: she authored legislation to eliminate Section 907 and strike all U.S. scrutiny of Azerbaijan.

Hamparian on three F grades: Utah’s Maloy and Owens and Wisconsin’s Van Orden co-sponsored the Section 907 repeal and refused to withdraw.

The hosts explain why Tigranashen, Armenia’s road artery to Iran, is not an equal trade for the Artsvashen enclave.

In this episode of Groong Week in Review, Hovik and Asbed break down Pashinyan’s territorial swap proposal with Azerbaijan, examining the strategic implications for Armenia’s 29,743 square kilometers and the security of border communities. We discuss the Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Process, contradictions between government officials on formal negotiations, inadequate housing aid for Artsakh refugees displaced during the ethnic cleansing, UN inaction on Armenian Prisoners of War, and Gyumri’s emergence as an opposition stronghold ahead of municipal elections.

Martirosyan argues a settlement built on one side’s wrongdoing cannot hold, and that Pashinyan’s version of peace is unilateral concession.

Martirosyan explains how Aliyev extracts concessions by threatening war, especially when Armenia’s leadership primes its own public to concede.

Armenia says raising Azerbaijani forest destruction at the COP17 biodiversity summit it hosts would violate the presidency’s principles.

An armed Azerbaijani soldier traveled 20 km into Armenia and shot a mother in her own home as she tried to defend her children in Shaki.

Sassounian says Trump offered to call Aliyev to free Armenian prisoners in Baku, and Pashinyan never took him up on it.

Steve Witkoff names his go-to advisors on Armenia: Turkey’s foreign minister and its intelligence chief, both spymasters.

In this episode of Conversations on Groong, we speak with Dziunik Aghajanian about shifting geopolitical pressures on Armenia following Russia’s September 2026 parliamentary elections. We discuss Putin’s strengthened domestic position, the Armenia-Russia confrontation over the 102nd base, asset confiscation and anti-corruption efforts targeting Russian interests, and how Middle East escalation and the Iran War reshape Armenia’s strategic environment amid ongoing Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Process tensions.

Hovik and Asbed examine the fourth anniversary of the September 2022 border war, Azerbaijan’s occupation of Armenian territory, Pashinyan’s trajectory toward recognizing Artsakh’s loss, Hajiyev’s revisionist claims at Gandzasar, TRIPP semiconductor leverage, Pashinyan’s Paris space summit visit, Russian financial flows through Armenia, and Russia-Iran coordination in the South Caucasus. Hrant Mikaelian examines U.S. chip diplomacy tied to TRIPP, Armenia’s energy crisis as the nuclear plant nears shutdown, and the structural failures driving Armenia’s  Read More

In this episode of Conversations on Groong, we speak with Hrant Mikaelian about chip diplomacy, the TRIPP framework, and Armenia’s structural economic vulnerabilities. We discuss how the U.S. fast-tracked advanced AI exports to secure the Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Process agreement, the massive energy demands of the planned Firebird data center, Armenia’s deepening education crisis, and the risks of energy dependence as the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant approaches shutdown.

EU Special Representative Magdalena Grono called the Gandzasar dispute a matter of “deeply diverging views and narratives.” The hosts call it false equivalence.

Hovik and Asbed examine September 2026 developments across Armenia and the South Caucasus, reviewing Artsakh’s remembered independence declaration, Putin’s military base signaling, Armenian Church prosecutions, EU trade negotiations, non-combat military deaths, and political pressures ahead of local elections.

Non-combat deaths in Armenia’s army are rising sharply since the declared peace. The hosts detail a case of conscripts run over while forced to jog at night.

Pashinyan reportedly explains rising army deaths by saying that with no enemy shooting, soldiers grow lax and fight over who sleeps on watch.

Armenia imports $18-20M in petroleum from Azerbaijan but exports only $960 worth of goods. Hovik reveals the fuel is actually Russian energy white-labeled through Baku, exposing the false ‘peace’ narrative.

Tigranashen, a small village controlling roads between North and South Armenia, is the next territorial concession demanded by Azerbaijan as the price of ‘peace.’ Its strategic value exposes the coercive nature of the settlement.

Pashinyan explicitly stated Armenia comprises 29,743 sq km, excluding Tigranashen. Expert analyzes this strategic territory’s importance and why Azerbaijan uses Jermuk occupation as leverage.

In this episode of Conversations on Groong, we speak with Arthur G. Martirosyan about Armenia’s post-election political crisis and Pashinyan’s governance agenda. We discuss the arrest of opposition leaders including Robert Kocharyan, attacks on the Armenian Church, border concessions including Tigranashen, the TRIPP corridor, and how the Established Opposition is strategizing under state repression in the Fourth Republic.

Aliyev revealed that Azerbaijani technical teams have surveyed transmission line routes through Syunik for TRIPP, and he is now signaling that Armenia’s nuclear power plant could become a future demand.

Campbell proposes that Armenia’s landlocked position and fiber connectivity could make it a regional data hub, turning potential vulnerability into strategic advantage through trade and interconnection.

Asbed and Hovik examine Pashinyan’s confrontation with the Armenian Church, Armenia’s balancing act between Russia and the EU, the geopolitical implications of TRIPP, Iran’s military leadership realignment under wartime pressure, the Turkey-Pakistan-Saudi Arabia defense pact, and how these shifts reshape Armenia’s role in the South Caucasus. Richard Campbell discusses the global AI race, data center economics, energy constraints, and Armenia’s Firebird project, examining whether current AI infrastructure investments align with physical and economic realities.

Hovik Manucharyan argues that Pashinyan has already agreed to hand over Tigranashen and is executing a piecemeal territorial surrender strategy, bypassing Soviet-era border protocols.

Asbed explains how Pashinyan has committed Syunik’s transit corridor simultaneously to Russia via the 2020 ceasefire and to the US-backed TRIPP framework, creating an irresolvable conflict.

New parliament speaker Ruben Rubinyan evades direct questions about whether Tigranashen, a strategically critical Armenian territory, falls within the government’s stated 29,743 square kilometers.

In this episode of Conversations on Groong, we speak with Dr. Archil Sikharulidze about Russia’s shifting strategy in the South Caucasus and Armenia and Georgia’s diverging paths. We discuss Moscow’s assessment of Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Process developments, Georgia’s widening dispute with Europe, Armenia’s shift away from Russia, and how regional transit corridors reshape geopolitical competition between Moscow, Brussels, and Washington.

Hovik argues the U.S. lacks a coherent strategy in the escalating Iran conflict, citing John Mearsheimer’s assessment that Washington is flailing without a clear path to victory.

Asbed and Hovik expose the absence of transparent maps in Armenia’s border delimitation process, questioning what territorial figure the government is actually negotiating.

Asbed breaks down Pashinyan’s dangerous ‘scissors’ metaphor on border delimitation, which treats Azerbaijani military occupation as a negotiating position rather than an illegal invasion.

Hovik and Asbed analyze Armenia’s Constitutional Court ruling upholding the 2026 Armenian Parliamentary Election results, the disqualification of Prosperous Armenia votes, Civil Contract’s three-fifths majority, the opposition’s parliamentary leverage, and what these outcomes mean for Armenian sovereignty amid ongoing Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Process negotiations and regional pressures. Dr. Sergey Markedonov examines Russia’s strategic bandwidth problem in Ukraine, the geopolitical stakes of TRIPP in Syunik, and Pashinyan’s Western pivot following Armenia’s  Read More

Suslov compares Pashinyan’s regime to Georgia’s Saakashvili, arguing Armenia is being systematically repurposed as a Western pawn against Russia.

Suslov explains Russia’s demand that Armenia hold a referendum to legitimize its choice between Eurasian integration and Western alignment, rejecting Pashinyan’s pivot as undemocratic.

In this episode of Groong Week in Review for July 5, 2026, Hovik and Asbed analyze Armenia’s Constitutional Court ruling upholding the disputed 2026 Armenian Parliamentary Election results. We examine the disqualification of Prosperous Armenia votes, Civil Contract’s three-fifths majority, the opposition’s parliamentary leverage, and what these outcomes mean for Armenian sovereignty amid ongoing Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Process negotiations and regional pressures.

Arman Grigoryan discusses US-Iran negotiations and their implications for TRIPP, regional power dynamics, and Armenia’s contested 2026 parliamentary election aftermath. We examine the fallout from Armenia’s 2026 Armenian Parliamentary Elections, including six opposition parties challenging results at the Constitutional Court, escalating political persecutions targeting opposition figures, Russia’s continued economic pressure on Pashinyan’s government, US-Iran ceasefire negotiations and their regional implications, and a new Armenia-Azerbaijan telecommunications agreement that raises cybersecurity and strategic dependency concerns.

Hovik Manucharyan and Asbed Bedrossian examine Armenia’s 2026 parliamentary election results, shifting Armenia-Georgia relations amid EU corridor initiatives, and a landmark US-Iran interim agreement that reshapes regional security architecture. Hrant Mikaelian examines the disputed aftermath of Armenia’s June 7, 2026 parliamentary election, discussing electoral fraud allegations, government threats against opposition parties, Armenia-Russia tensions, EU support for Armenian exports, and why political polling failed to predict the result.

We analyze the disputed results of Armenia’s June 7, 2026 parliamentary election, examining Civil Contract’s contested majority, alleged irregularities and invalid ballots, the OSCE/ODIHR preliminary report, the last-minute exclusion of Prosperous Armenia, opposition arrests and pressure, and what a three-fifths majority could mean for Armenia’s courts, institutions, and foreign policy. Arthur G. Martirosyan examines Armenia’s contested 2026 Armenian Parliamentary Election, discussing whether the vote was free and fair, how state pressure and Western backing shaped the  Read More

In this episode of Conversations on Groong, we speak with Arthur G. Martirosyan about Armenia’s contested 2026 Armenian Parliamentary Election and Pashinyan’s path to a third term. We discuss whether the vote was free and fair, how state pressure and Western backing shaped the outcome, the razor-thin thresholds that determine parliamentary representation, Pashinyan’s post-election crackdown against the Established Opposition, and what a Civil Contract supermajority would mean for Armenia’s governance and the Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Process.