Introduction
Armenia, a landlocked country at the crossroads of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, boasts a rich cultural heritage and a dynamic history that has shaped its national identity.
Situated strategically in the South Caucasus, Armenia is actively working with numerous international partners to advance both economic development and regional stability, navigating relations between its long-standing ally Russia and the West, notably the United States.
We recently visited Armenia to participate in the Yerevan Dialogue 2025, an event that attracted regional and international players and demonstrated Armenia’s vision for its domestic policy.
In this context, SpecialEurasia recently interviewed the new Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia to Italy, H.E. Vladimir Karapetyan, to acquire insights into his vision and the current state of Armenia’s foreign relations and domestic opportunities.
Given the complexities of the current geopolitical scenario, could you elaborate on the primary guidelines and strategic objectives that define Armenia’s foreign policy approach in the face of these developments?
“Definitely and obviously the times of changes bring huge threats, but from the other side huge opportunities as well. We are trying to manage threats and to use opportunities.
Currently Armenia is pursuing the balanced and balancing foreign policy which means that we are trying to create balance between our different relations with the European Union, with Russia, with our regional powers.
Our relations with our neighbours – Georgia and Iran are very important. We are working on the establishment of diplomatic relations with Turkey, we are trying to reach a peace deal with Azerbaijan. Of course, it is not easy, but we don’t think it is impossible.
What is important that we are suspiciously transparent with all our international partners.”
How does Armenia reconcile its Westward trajectory, including EU accession efforts, with the economic dependence on remittances from Russia and membership in the Eurasian Economic Union?
“Armenia’s recent legislative move toward the European Union is a symbolic gesture of the Armenian nation’s aspirations. In reality, the initiative was by the civil society which presented the draft law on starting the process of accession of Armenia to the European Union and our Government and Parliament endorsed that which means that we legally start the process of getting more and more closer to that European Union.
Why do we want to be closer to the European Union? Because we are democracy. When you are democracy you want to be closer or in mainstream of democracy, because otherwise would be illogical.
In recent years tremendous changes and improvements have happened in our relations with the European Union, for example the negotiation process on visa liberalization agreement, which was in our agenda for long years, currently is in an active phase. We hope we will be able to end it and sign as soon as possible.
The European Union is becoming an increasingly important partner for Armenia and we are discussing other formats of cooperation, within which active work will be done on security and defense issues. The security sphere is new to our agenda. We are discussing strengthening this area which will open up new prospects for cooperation Armenia-EU.
Regarding the economic ties, of course we want to be closer to the European Union economically, but on the other side we want to be economically closer with our regional countries as well, because unfortunately, from the beginning of our independence, we were in kind of economic isolation, because our borders with Turkey and Azerbaijan were and are still closed.
To make change not only in our region, but also globally in terms of overcoming this supply chain shocks, our government has put on the table the project of Crossroads of Peace. It is about making our regional transport communications more effective and to create new transport communications not only with Azerbaijan, but with Turkey as well, to deepen our cooperation with Georgia, with Iran, but it is also about the European Union, because when this project is implemented, we will have new chain routes through Armenia to European Union.
On the other hand, we are members of Eurasian Economic Union, we have an access to a big Eurasian market. Of course, we understand that we cannot be part of both the EAEU and the EU at the same time. It is obvious that this is a point on which we will have to make a decision in the future. But it is very important that this decision must be made by the citizens of the Republic of Armenia.
Currently, our approach is step-by-step, and our alignment with the EU follows this narrative. It is a complex process with various stages, and at this point, the question of what is compatible or incompatible is not on our agenda.”
Given Azerbaijan’s recent claims about “Western Azerbaijan” and the “Zangezur Corridor,” along with past conflicts, what security measures is Armenia taking to protect its territory? Considering the circumstances, how does Yerevan foresee the peace process unfolding, and what concrete guarantees can you give concerning Armenia’s sovereignty considering Baku’s aggressive past and current statements?
The expression “Zangezur Corridor” is incomprehensible and unacceptable to us. The fact that such an expression is used, in the Republic of Armenia it is perceived as a territorial claim against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Armenia.We are in favor of opening regional communications, first of all we are interested in opening regional communications, as in fact we are the ones who are under blockade more than 30 years. We have four borders, two of which are completely closed. And this fact in itself shows how much we need and are interested in opening regional communications.
We declared that we are ready to provide a connection between the western regions of Azerbaijan and the Autonomous Republic of Nakhchivan through our territory which is expressed in our project “Crossroads of Peace”. For us this agenda is included in the general agenda of opening regional communications which means that Armenia and Azerbaijan must mutually open communications for each other, both external and internal, that is, from Armenia to Armenia through the territory of Azerbaijan, and from Azerbaijan to Azerbaijan through the territory of Armenia. What we propose is that all communications that we will open in the region must operate under the sovereignty and jurisdiction of the countries they traverse.
The so-called “Western Azerbaijan” narrative is a fabricated concept, developed by Azerbaijan to generate claims against the sovereign territories of the Republic of Armenia. It has neither historical nor legal basis and serves a single purpose: to legitimize the territorial claims against 60% of the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia, including its capital Yerevan. Although Azerbaijan tries to present this issue under the cover of human rights, the very use of the artificial term of “Western Azerbaijan” proves that the matters raised in this context have nothing to do with humanitarian concerns. These territorial claims are even reflected in the founding documents of the so-called “organization” artificially created for that purpose, the name of which itself refutes the thesis of a peaceful return.
At the same time, we acknowledge that before the anti-Armenian pogroms in Sumgait, Baku and other Armenian-populated cities of Azerbaijan, which started in 1988, an Azerbaijani minority was also living in Armenia as part of Armenian society. However, after the Sumgait pogroms, the Azerbaijanis, who voluntarily left for Azerbaijan, managed to sell or exchange their property or receive compensation from the Armenian government. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the fate of Armenians living in Azerbaijan—in Baku, Sumgait, and other places, where massacres and forced displacement of Armenians took place. The most recent manifestation of this in our region was witnessed in the fall of 2023, when over 115,000 Armenians were forced to flee Nagorno-Karabakh subjected to ethnic cleansing.
In your opinion what is the role of Italy in reaching peace in your region? What recent developments would you mention in relations between Armenia and Italy?
“The Armenian-Italian interstate relations are based on rich and ancient traditions of friendship between our peoples and common values that we share. Initially based on historical Christian traditions, today it further spread to the democratic path that our states pursue.
Italy has interests in our region, of course it also based to the economic sphere and business. We witness that the involvement of Italy in our region is progressively growing and Italy plays an active role in the process of establishing stability and peace in the region. One of the proves of this is the adoption by the Italian Senate in February 2025 of the Motion about the initiatives promoting the peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan which is a result of, as it seemed from here, a consensus between the Italian government and the Senate. The resolution specifically calls the Italian government to promote diplomatic actions aimed at the peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan, support dialogue between the two countries and take measures to establish balanced economic relations with Armenia and Azerbaijan.
We have already seen the first positive outcomes of this Motion: it is the creation of the position of Special Envoy for the South Caucasus within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy. We in Armenia were happy to host H.E. Ambassador Amaduzzi, Special Envoy, with Senator Scalfarotto who is one of the main initiators of the Motion in Armenia, as they participated at the second edition of Yerevan Dialogue Conference.
As for the economic relations between Armenia and Italy, the interest of Italian entrepreneurs in Armenia is growing, the investments made in the most recent period refer to the textile, ceramic, infrastructure and energy sectors. Italy is our second largest trade partner in the European Union. At the same time we see that there is a huge potential that is not used and in this regard we have to work a lot for activating and giving a boost to our economic cooperation.
Our cultural interactions have deep historical roots: the first book printed in the Armenian language was published in Venice in 1512. For Christian Armenians it is of immense value that the relics of St. Gregory the Illuminator, the first Patriarch, the Catolicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church, are preserved in the churches of San Gregorio Armeno in Naples and Nardò.
One of the most important centers of the revival of Armenian culture in modern times is the island of San Lazzaro in Venice, where the Congregation of the Mechitarist Fathers has existed for almost three centuries. It is an important center of Armenology, which has made its invaluable contribution to the enrichment of the Armenian and world scientific and cultural heritage. In this regard, Italy hosts the largest number of Armenology centers in the world.
These are just a few of many examples on which our vast cooperation and sympathy are based on. Daily we hear and if there are possibilities, participate in various cultural events – being it edition of the new book, translation of Armenian authors to Italian, concert and exhibitions with participation of Armenian artists, or screening of Armenian cinema. We know that Italian cultural events in Armenia are also very frequent and popular and we will continue to work with devotion in bringing our peoples closer.”
Considering Armenia’s defence cooperation plan with Italy, how does Yerevan intend to balance its shifting security posture amid reduced CSTO engagement and persistent threats along its border with Azerbaijan?
“Armenia has basically frozen its participation in the Collective Security Treaty Organization for not fulfilling its security obligations towards Armenia in 2021 and 2022 when Azerbaijan attacked our territory.
Currently, we develop relations with different countries, including France, India, Germany, China, Greece and others in the sphere of military cooperation with the aim to diversify this domain and to reduce our total dependence from one country. We believe that this policy that we adopted mostly after the recent developments in our region will ensure the security environment for our country.
As I already mentioned, the security and defense sphere is new in Armenia-European Union agenda. We attach great importance to the activities of the European Civilian Mission in Armenia in the context of ensuring peace and stability in the region. The operation of the European mission is an essential restraining instrument for ensuring relatively stable situation on the border. In this regard, we are thankful to the European Union, its members, including Italy for supporting this initiative and participating in it.
The state border delimitation process is another measure aimed at ensuring security and stability in the region. Majority of our partners, including the European Union, welcomed the border delimitation process of the state border between Armenia and Azerbaijan based on the 1991 Alma-Ata declaration as a fundamental principle.
As for the developing the defence cooperation with Italy, our ministries of defence are in constant contact discussing the possibilities of deepening cooperation in this sphere.”
What are the domestic political implications of Armenia’s constitutional reform aimed at facilitating a peace agreement with Azerbaijan, especially concerning public trust and opposition narratives?
“As you know, Armenia and Azerbaijan declared about the finalizing the text of Peace Agreement. At the same time Azerbaijan has presented preconditions for the signing of the peace deal which from our perspective are artificial.
One of them is the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group structures. The second precondition is the change of Armenia’s Constitution, the preamble of which references Armenia’s Declaration of Independence signed in August 1990.
The agenda for the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group was acceptable to Armenia. At the same time we want to be sure that Azerbaijan does not intend to close the conflict situation on its territory and export it to the territory of Armenia. Why do we have this concern? Because you know that, unfortunately, in recent years, Azerbaijan has begun to call approximately 60% of the sovereign territory of Armenia so-called “Western Azerbaijan”.
So, we suggest to sign the peace agreement and in parallel to apply to the OSCE on the issue of dissolving the structures of the Minsk Group, i.e. to have two documents on the table and sign them simultaneously, at the same time, in the same place.
As for the Armenian Constitution, our Constitution does not contain any territorial claims against Azerbaijan. However, taking into consideration the position of Azerbaijan, we have proposed a very constructive and practical solution: according to the legislation of Armenia, after signing the peace agreement, it must be submitted to the Constitutional Court of Armenia. If the Constitutional Court decides that the agreement is fully compliant with the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, and we are absolutely convinced that it is, all the concerns of Azerbaijan regarding our Constitution will be legally addressed. In the case of contradiction between the norms of ratified international treaties and those of domestic laws, the norms of the international treaty shall prevail.
Thus, the Peace Agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan will acquire superior legal force over the laws of the Republic of Armenia and other normative legal acts once it is ratified by the Parliament. However, if the Court decides that the text of the agreement does not comply with the Armenian Constitution, then the government of Armenia will have the reality on the ground it should address, including through considering the constitutional amendments, if necessary. Therefore, if Azerbaijan is sincere in its concerns regarding the Constitution of Armenia, the easiest and most straightforward way to resolve them is to sign the agreement as soon as possible. And our call to international partners is following: encourage Azerbaijan to sign the peace agreement without further delays, which will accordingly address, dispel and resolve all possible concerns raised by both Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Despite all the arguments, all the provocations, we remain fully committed to the peace process and are ready to assume our share of responsibility for having lasting and stable peace in our region.”
