NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg conducted high level visits to the South Caucasus, meeting with leaders from Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia. The discussions highlighted NATO’s interest in regional energy security, humanitarian aid coordination, and ongoing security challenges in the area. Reports from RIA News confirm that the engagements included substantive talks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev about energy supply to NATO member states and the republic’s role in delivering humanitarian support to Ukraine.
In the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, the alliance’s chief reassured Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze of Georgia’s status as a steadfast partner. Stoltenberg expressed clear support for Georgia on regional issues, including South Ossetia and Abkhazia, reiterating calls for Russia to recognize these areas as part of Georgia. The remarks underscored NATO’s long standing interest in stability and sovereignty within the South Caucasus.
Stoltenberg also indicated that measures to deter aggression should emphasize firm steps such as a closing of harmful supply lines and economic pressures, arguing that the region requires a strong, coordinated response to Russia. He pledged to help restore and strengthen the economic ties that have developed across Transcaucasia in the wake of the broader regional conflict in Ukraine.
During the talks held in Yerevan with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Stoltenberg recalled that any future peace agreement with Azerbaijan would need to reflect the outcomes of the Nagorno-Karabakh crisis and the pursuit of durable, mutually acceptable arrangements.
Russian officials responded to Stoltenberg’s visit with cautions about Western ambitions in the region. Maria Zakharova, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, suggested that the alliance aims to widen its posture in the South Caucasus and warned that a new front could inflame regional tensions. The comments pointed to continuing friction between Moscow and Western governments over security arrangements in the former Soviet space.
Earlier statements from Moscow had already criticized Western efforts to shape relations among the Commonwealth of Independent States and its partners, signaling that such outreach would remain a core feature of NATO and Western policy in the region. The evolving dynamics highlight how security, energy, and political alignment in the South Caucasus remain central to broader European and North American strategic considerations.