Washington and Brussels did everything to torpedo our agreements with Yerevan and Baku and take over the process. Andrei Nastasin, deputy director of the Information and Press Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, announced this during the briefing.   “As before, we are convinced that the only way to achieve peace and stability in the…

Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold a series of bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit, Putin’s aide Yury Ushakov said, TASS reports.   According to Ushakov, Moscow considers the summit in Astana as an “opportunity to organize bilateral contacts with the country leaders who will attend it.” That is…

Reuters. Iran’s presidential candidates faced off in a debate on Monday (July 1) clashing over foreign policy and economic reform just days before the two men will face a run-off election on July 5.   Saeed Jalili, a zealous ideologue loyal to Iran’s supreme leader went head to head with his more moderate opponent Massoud…

A SU-25 jet of the Georgian Defense Forces involved in an aviation component of the planned military training crashed on July 2 killing pilot Kakhaber Zurabishvili, Georgian Defense Ministry reported.   According to the Ministry, relevant services probe into the tragic incident, 1tv.ge reported.   “The Ministry expresses deep sorrow over the tragic incident and…

Vedant Patel, Principal Deputy Spokesperson at US Department of State, referred to the issue of political prisoners during a press briefing. Journalists reminded him that Secretary Anthony Blinken spoke with Azerbaijani president lham Aliyev, and last week Assistant Secretary James O’Brien spent his days in Baku. They asked is there any concern that these high-level…

As Azerbaijan prepares to host the next UN climate change conference, COP29, a group of Azerbaijani human rights defenders has launched a joint campaign to end repression in Azerbaijan, the “Progress & Change Action Laboratory”, a Geneva-based non-profit advisory group, said in a statement.   “By joining forces under the name of Anar Mammadli, the…

A meeting between Armenian and Ukrainian Foreign Ministers Ararat Mirzoyan and Dmytro Kuleba was held within the framework of the Dubrovnik Forum. Kuleba wrote about it on his X page.   “During our meeting, Armenia’s Foreign Minister AraratMirzoyan and I discussed the security situation in Europe and the South Caucasus.   I thanked Armenia for…

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, Ararat Mirzoyan, and the Slovenian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Tanja Fajon, discussed the bilateral agenda and regional issues.   According to the readout issued by the foreign ministry, they emphasized the need to maintain continuity of dialogue on key…

Iran is to hold run-off presidential election on July 5 as no candidate secured 50% of voters the interior ministry said on Saturday (June 29), Reuters reports.   Earlier preliminary results from Friday’s vote had shown the sole moderate candidate Massoud Pezeshkian held a slight lead over his hardline challenger former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili….

US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs James O’Brien spoke to the media in Baku about the agreements on military supplies between Armenia and France. The American diplomat said that every country has the right to self-defense.   “We see that Azerbaijan is also working in that direction,” added O’Brien.   He…

US Representatives Anna Eshoo and Chris Smith introduced a bipartisan resolution condemning Azerbaijan’s ethnic cleansing of Nagorno-Karabakh and urging the Biden Administration to take immediate action to hold Azerbaijan accountable for its genocidal aggression.   “The Azerbaijani assault on Nagorno-Karabakh last year brought about the destruction of the ethnic Armenian community that has called the…

Georgia’s path to EU membership is being blocked by the passing of a controversial foreign influence law, European leaders have said at a summit in Brussels, the BBC reports.   The passing of the law represented “backsliding” on steps laid out to enable the country to join the bloc.   “The European Council calls on…

Acting Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic Ali Bagheri Kani says that expansion of relations between Iran and Azerbaijan is a need to progress policy on neighborliness, IRNA reports.   Bagheri Kani made the remarks on a post on his X account, IRNA reported on Thursday.   In his remarks, Bagheri Kani wrote about his…

During a meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, Jeyhun Bayramov, who is visiting Georgia, Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili discussed the bilateral agenda, regional issues, and current global events, 1tv.ge reports.   In a joint statement with Bayramov, Darchiashvili emphasized that Georgia and Azerbaijan respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. He…

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…