Armenia and Azerbaijan: Upgrading of UK Bilateral Relationships and Lifting the UK Arms Embargo

Monday 13th October 2025 Written Statements

[The Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Stephen Doughty)]

This statement supersedes the written ministerial statement of Wednesday 1 July 2025 on Armenia and Azerbaijan: Arms Embargo [HCWS760].

I wish to inform the House of the significant developments in the South Caucasus and the United Kingdom’s response to the historic progress made in the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace process.

On 8 August, a trilateral peace summit hosted by President Trump in Washington D. C. brought together President Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Prime Minister Pashinyan of Armenia. The summit resulted in the initialling of a peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as the signing of a joint declaration. This declaration included a joint appeal to dissolve the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe Minsk Group and a commitment to secure unimpeded connectivity between Azerbaijan and its Nakhchivan exclave, while respecting Armenia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The UK warmly welcomes the progress made by Armenia and Azerbaijan towards peace. These developments mark a pivotal moment in efforts to secure lasting peace and stability in the region.

In recognition of Armenia’s and Azerbaijan’s progress, and to support continued momentum towards peace, the UK Government have decided to upgrade their bilateral relationships with both Armenia and Azerbaijan to strategic partnerships. These partnerships will formalise co-operation in areas including trade, security, and defence, and will be underpinned by annual ministerial-level meetings to review progress. I visited Armenia and Azerbaijan from 24 to 26 August to reaffirm UK support and discussed with the leaders of both countries how the UK could take practical measures to reinforce the prospects for long-term peace in the South Caucasus.

We have taken immediate steps to welcome and support Armenia and Azerbaijan on their pathway to peace by supporting the closure of the OSCE Minsk Group, in line with their request. The UK welcomes the consensus reached on 1 September to formally dissolve the OSCE Minsk Group structures.

Given the significant progress made in advancing peace, and the historic outcomes of the recent summit in Washington hosted by President Trump, the UK considers that the rationale underpinning the OSCE’s 1992 recommended arms embargo on

“all deliveries of weapons and munitions to forces engaged in combat in the Nagorno-Karabakh area”

has fallen away. The UK will therefore fully lift its arms embargo on Armenia and Azerbaijan. This decision will enable the UK’s security and defence partnerships with both Armenia and Azerbaijan to evolve in a rapidly changing context, and will allow the UK to support efforts to safeguard their sovereignty and territorial integrity, including in response to conventional and hybrid threats from other states and non-state actors.

Export and trade licence applications for Armenia and Azerbaijan will of course continue to be assessed on a case-by-case basis against the robust UK Strategic Export Licensing Criteria, and the Government will not issue any licence where to do so would be inconsistent with any of the criteria. We will keep the regional and internal security situation of both Azerbaijan and Armenia under close review.

We sincerely hope this is a moment of opportunity for peace, security and prosperity in the South Caucasus.

The UK stands ready to work with both countries, the United States, the European Union and other partners to play a constructive and proactive role in supporting this transformation, and the security and stability of the wider region.

[HCWS944]