Secretary Blinken released the annual International Religious Freedom Report, which details the status of religious freedom in nearly 200 countries and territories around the world and highlights U.S. policies that promote religious freedom around the world, US Embassy in Yerevan reports. In country section for Armenia, the report says: “The constitution states that everyone…
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between Tehran and Moscow for the transfer of Russian gas to Iran today, which is a big step towards turning Iran into a regional gas hub and fulfilling the promise of the martyred president, IRNA reports. In the last days of the 13th government, the Ministry of…
Russia and Ukraine each handed back 90 prisoners of war on Tuesday (June 26) in the latest of several periodic swaps in their 28-month-old conflict, with the United Arab Emirates overseeing the exchange as an intermediary, Reuters reports. The last exchange took place on May 31, when each side handed over 75 prisoners of…
In response to the accusations and threats of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev against France and the Armenian-French military cooperation Spokesperson for foreign affairs and security policyof the EU, Peter Stano noted that the history of the EU shows that building trust between countries after a long conflict requires time, forgiveness and patience. Answering a…
Iran’s Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani stated that the holding of the Asian Cooperation Dialogue Forum ministers’ meeting at this juncture shows Iran’s determination to use all opportunities to strengthen multilateralism, cooperation and convergence in Asia, IRNA reports. “Today, the meeting of the Asian Cooperation Dialogue Forum under the chairmanship of Iran was…
Matthew Miller, US State Department Spokesperson referred to ongoing Armenia-Azerbaijan negotiations during a regular press briefing. “I’m not going to get into the private diplomatic conversations, but as we said in the readout that we put out, we continue to support engagement between Azerbaijan and Armenia and continue to work to try to resolve…
In an interview with the Azerbaijani media, the Special Representative of the European Union in the South Caucasus, Toivo Klaar, referred to the peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia. “We have appreciated the leaders’ and other interlocutors’ interest in keeping us appraised of both the political developments in the region as well as of…
Israeli fighter jets have delivered strikes on military targets of the Lebanon-based Shiite party Hezbollah, the press service of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported, TASS reports. “Throughout the night, IDF fighter jets struck Hezbollah terror targets in southern Lebanon, including a Hezbollah military structure in the area of Aitaroun, as well as Hezbollah…
Russia’s Dagestan began three days of mourning of Monday after gunmen killed multiple police officers, an Orthodox priest and several others in attacks on synagogues and churches on Sunday across two cities in the North Caucasus region, Reuters reports. “This is a day of tragedy for Dagestan and the whole country,” Sergei Melikov, governor…
Ivan Timofeev, Director General of the Russian Council of International Relations, said that Russia and Azerbaijan are discussing the issue of switching to national currencies in transactions. He expressed concern that due to Western sanctions against the Moscow Stock Exchange, problems with calculations have arisen. According to Timofeev, banks adapted to the Russian market…
On June 21, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan had a telephone conversation with Ayman Safadi, the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The interlocutors discussed regional issues. The Deputy Prime Minister of Jordan welcomed Armenia’s recognition of the…
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said that at least 22 people have been killed and 45 others were injured in a shell attack Friday that damaged the structure of its Gaza office, which is surrounded by hundreds of displaced people residing in tents, Reuters reports. The ICRC said in a statement…
At least 11 people have been killed and dozens hurt as wildfires swept through several villages in mainly Kurdish southeastern Turkey, ministers said, Al Jazeera reports. Health Minister Fahrettin Koca reported the deaths from the overnight blaze between the cities of Diyarbakir and Mardin on Friday. Seventy-eight people were injured, he said on X,…
Turkey welcomed Armenia’s decision to recognize the state of Palestine, said the country’s Foreign Ministry in a statement. “We welcome Armenia’s decision to recognize the State of Palestine, following countries such as Spain, Ireland, Norway and Slovenia,” said the statement. The recognition of the Palestinian state is a must for international law, justice,…
The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) expects that Armenia will officially clarify its status in the organization. CSTO Secretary General Imangali Tasmagambetov told this to reporters within the framework of the meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the CSTO member states, reports RIA Novosti. “I believe that the political leadership…
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis welcomed Armenia’s efforts to continue the path of democratic reforms, the country’s resilience and strengthening relations with Europe during his meeting with Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan, Lithuanian Foreign Ministry reports. During the meeting, the prospects for deepening bilateral relations, the security situation in the region and the importance of supporting…
Josep Borrell, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President delivered written answer to the members of European Parliament, on behalf of the European Commission. The questions concerned the EU position and current activities towards Armenia-Azerbaijan normalization process. The EP press handout reads: Josep Borrell: The EU continues to support…
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova once again accused France of provoking “another round of armed confrontation in the South Caucasus.” She said at a press conference on Wednesday that the French leadership is not guided by Armenia’s interests. “Paris seeks to use the existing disagreements, contradictions within countries or between countries as…
Russia does not refuse contacts with Armenia in the technico-military sector. Maria Zakharova, the spokesperson of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), stated this during Wednesday’s weekly press briefing and in connection with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin’s statement and the reports that Russia may refuse negotiations with Armenia on arms supply. …
Russian President Vladimir Putin was welcomed in a lavish ceremony and cheering crowds in Pyongyang on Wednesday (June 19), as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un expressed ‘full support’ for Russia’s war in Ukraine and pledged stronger strategic ties with Moscow, Reuters reports. An honour guard including mounted soldiers, and a large crowd of…
An earthquake struck Kashamar County in Razavi Khorasan Province on Tuesday afternoon, killing at least 4 people and injuring more than 120 people, the local Iranian authorities said, Mehr News reports. The local authorities in Khorasan Razavi Province in northeast Iran said on Tuesday that a 5 earthquake on the scale of Richter hit…
Foreign Ministers Jeyhun Bayramov of Azerbaijan and Hakan Fidan of Türkiye held a phone conversation on June 17, Azerbaijani MFA reports. The ministers discussed various aspects of the bilateral allied relations between the two countries. The sides reviewed the preparations for the upcoming Informal Summit of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS). …
No sooner had the first so-called “peace summit” in Switzerland ended than Ukraine had already planned a second one, with the participation of Russia. This was stated by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba, Top War reports. The first conference in Switzerland, organized by Kiev, was called a “failure.” As some Western experts note, Zelensky…
Switzerland intends to discuss the Peace Summit with Russia, as well as with China and other countries that did not participate in it, the Swiss Foreign Minister said, Ukrainska Pravda reports. “We have a working embassy in Moscow, and every two weeks, we communicate with Russia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, and we also have…
Leaders of the Group of Seven leading western industrial economies did not discuss Russian President Vladimir Putin’s proposals for peace in Ukraine since everyone knew they were not serious, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said, Reuters reports. Speaking from Italy shortly before leaving for Switzerland, where a Ukraine conference opens on Saturday, Scholz said Putin’s…
At a difficult moment, Russia came to the aid of the people of Armenia and restored the railway communication with Georgia destroyed by the natural disaster in a record short time, stated the Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Alexey Overchuk. “Russian specialists personally worked around the clock with their Armenian colleagues in the direction…
European Union Mission in Armenia (EUMA) continues its daily patrols on the Armenian side of the border with Azerbaijan, EUMA informed Friday on X (formerly Twitter). “The Mission’s monitors haven’t observed any unusual movements or incidents,” EUMA added. Earlier in the day, the Ministry of Defense of Armenia also dismissed the disinformation disseminated…
Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan, Head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration Hikmet Hajiyev discussed the current state and future prospects of the Azerbaijan-NATO partnership during a political dialogue in the NATO+Azerbaijan format with allied states at NATO headquarters as a part of his visit to Belgium on June 12–13,…
The Union “For Freedom of Political Prisoners in Azerbaijan” (FPPA) announced on 14 June a new list of 303 political prisoners in Azerbaijan. As compared to the previous list of 18 March, the number of political prisoners has risen by 16 people. Over the past three months, opposition politician and academic economist Gubad Ibadoglu…
United States Welcomes Armenia’s Signing of the Artemis Accords, US State Department said in a statement. “Armenia became the 43rd signatory to the Artemis Accords yesterday at a ceremony at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The Artemis Accords were established in 2020 by the United States and seven other countries to set out a practical…
