EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, speaking after a virtual meeting of bloc foreign ministers, sounded more alarms, and said the Russian troop presence had grown to 150,000 along Ukraine's eastern frontier. Calling it the biggest military buildup ever near Ukraine's borders, he added “a spark” was all that was needed to set off a major war. 

Azerbaijan and Belarus agreed to boost economic cooperation between the two former Soviet countries after President Alexander Lukashenko's official visit to Baku.

Some of the more radical, increasingly marginalised Armenian political figures have been actively speculating about - in an apparent attempt to appeal to their shrinking base and remain relevant – counterproductive territorial claims against Turkey. Their statements appear to be aimed at throwing a wrench into the inevitable restoration of diplomatic relations between Yerevan and Ankara.

Azerbaijan increased oil and gas exports in the first quarter of this year, the State Customs Office and State energy firm SOCAR said.

Azerbaijan’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) shrank 1.3 percent in the first quarter of 2021 from a year earlier, according to the State Statistics Committee.

Georgia's ruling Georgian Dream party and some opposition leaders signed an EU-mediated agreement late on Monday, in a bid to end a political crisis that threatens to derail its already vulnerable economy.