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The crash of the Embraer E190 aircraft of the Azerbaijani airline AZAL on December 25, 2024, revealed the fact that, contrary to their declared statements, relations between Russia and Azerbaijan are experiencing a difficult period.

After the collapse of B. Assad’s regime in Syria, there has been increased discussion in the global media about the “Qatar Gas Pipeline”, which is planned to run from the Persian Gulf to Europe.

On December 16, 2024, it became known that Baku was attempting to secure arms supply contracts with India through the mediation of a “third country”.

Ukraine’s decision to halt the transit of Russian gas to Europe as of January 1, 2025, will most severely impact Moldova.

The process of signing a peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan is currently delayed. Based on the limited information available about the negotiations, it is difficult to speak about the timing of the final stage, if it happens at all.

On December 14, 2024, presidential elections were held in Georgia under the new Constitutional law.

Just a day after the fall of B. Assad’s regime, it became clear that the integrity of Syria is a challenging task. The processes that run counter to the interests of the Syrian sovereignty began much earlier.

At the end of November 2024, it became known that Azerbaijan has transferred the Armenian monastery complex of Dadivank in Artsakh to the administration of the Udi community of Azerbaijan.

A new element has emerged in the processes surrounding Syria. The main news following the fall of Aleppo is that B. Assad is ready to negotiate with R. Erdogan.

The events in Syria are developing rapidly. In just one week, the front configuration in the Arab Republic has reverted to the outlines of 2015–2020, Bashar al-Assad’s government controlled only Damascus, a part of Aleppo province, and the Mediterranean coastline.

The almost simultaneous destabilization of the internal political situation in Georgia and Abkhazia cannot help but suggests a close interconnection between these two seemingly autonomous processes.

Despite the skeptical assessments of international experts regarding the results of COP29, Baku is trying to show that the conference was absolutely fruitful, both in terms of the global climate agenda and the regional environmental issues of interest to Azerbaijan.

Several Middle Eastern Arab sources claim that the campaign launched by Azerbaijan to “expose French neo-colonial policies” was initiated by the United Kingdom and coordinated from London.

On November 9, 2024, the Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), Aram Hambaryan, announced that 90% of the candidates supported by the Armenian organization received mandates in the US House of Representatives.

On 11.11.2024, the UN Climate Change Conference COP29 started in the capital of Azerbaijan. Baku, together with relevant UN structures, has thoroughly prepared for this event, trying to ensure that the scale and significance of COP29 will not be inferior to the memorable Paris Environmental Conference of 2015.

At the end of January 2023, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) put forward a project on creation of a new trade route in the Middle East called the “Development Road”, which envisages to construction of a railway and a multi-lane highway from the Persian Gulf through Iraq to Turkey, to the Mediterranean port of Mersin.

Judging by the Azerbaijani leadership’s behavior, this country is trying to prolong the negotiation process and postpone the signing of a peace treaty with Armenia for an indefinite period.

On October 2, 2024, the Israeli government declared UN Secretary-General António Guterres persona non grata. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz officially notified that Guterres was banned from entering the Jewish state.

The importance of the Middle Corridor (also known as the Central Corridor or the “Trans-Caspian Transport Route”) has increased sharply in 2022-2024 against the background of the reform of the Eurasian land and sea routes due to the war in Ukraine and the blockade of the Suez Canal.

Since 01.09.2024, the RF has suspended its social payments in Abkhazia, the beneficiaries of which were teachers, doctors, and employees of law-enforcement structures.