Caucasus in August 2026: the most important developments in politics
Politics in the Caucasus in August 2026 was dominated by Armenia after its parliamentary election. Nikol Pashinyan was reappointed prime minister on 2 August, and on 3 August parliament elected Ruben Rubinyan as speaker despite a boycott by the opposition Armenia faction and opposition from the Strong Armenia faction. President Vahagn Khachaturyan approved the new government, and on 13 August Pashinyan named Alen Simonyan, the former speaker, secretary of the Security Council. On 24 August Pashinyan said the return of Armenian prisoners held in Azerbaijan remains a top priority; earlier, an Azerbaijani appeals court had upheld verdicts against Armenian detainees.
Armenia's foreign relations formed the second strand. Pashinyan and Ilham Aliyev spoke by phone on 8 August, the first anniversary of the peace declaration, and discussed normalization and the TRIPP route. Armenia, Azerbaijan and the United States issued a joint statement on the anniversary of the Washington summit, and the two leaders met at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit on 31 August. Armenia announced plans to deepen its partnership with the European Union. Moscow said Armenia must choose between the EU and the Eurasian Economic Union and that it sees Armenia's balanced foreign policy as a threat, while Pashinyan rejected a referendum on membership. At home, Catholicos Karekin II faced an unprecedented criminal trial, with two judges declining the case, and former President Robert Kocharyan was remanded in custody for two months on 27 August.
Azerbaijan strengthened ties in Central Asia. Aliyev met Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev in Tashkent on 23 August at the third meeting of the Supreme Interstate Council, where both sides spoke of a clear action plan. Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan signed new agreements, and on 15 August the US State Department extended for a year the waiver of restrictions on aid to Azerbaijan.
In Georgia, former prime minister Irakli Garibashvili was charged with corruption after saying Bidzina Ivanishvili had pressured him to confess to a crime he did not commit. Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze refused to call Russia an enemy, and Georgia said diplomatic ties with Russia cannot be restored. The deputy prime minister resigned on 27 August, and the president pardoned several jailed protesters on 28 August.
by WorldBrief & Maksim Micheliov | AI-generated summary
Click a day in the chart above for that day's brief.