Baku gets what it wanted on the TRIPP road

A series of drone strikes on Russian oil pipeline infrastructure in the Black Sea have disrupted shipments of Kazakh crude via the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), exposing the vulnerability of one of Central Asia’s most important export routes amid the war in Ukraine.

On January 29, former Armenian President Robert Kocharyan announced his intention to return to power in Armenia. He explained his decision by saying he wanted to 'the country from the crisis into which Pashinyan's team had led Armenia.

On January 5, the presidents of Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan gave extensive interviews to local journalists: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to the newspaper Turkistan in Kazakhstan, and Ilham Aliyev to a group of Azerbaijani television channels. Although the contexts and challenges facing Astana and Baku differ, both leaders articulated a strikingly similar set of priorities shaped by economic transformation, geopolitical realignment, and the post–Cold War order.

Almost four years after the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine, it is becoming increasingly clear that the conflict has achieved many of the key strategic goals pursued by both Moscow and Western capitals, creating conditions that could ultimately push the fighting toward a negotiated settlement.