Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has declared July 30 a day of mourning after the border police helicopter on a rescue operation in Gudauri crashed, killing eight people. The PM expressed “sincere condolences and support to the family members and relatives of the deceased, to the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, to our…

The Karabakh issue is not a territorial issue for Armenia. In that sense, the security and rights of Karabakh Armenians are fundamental to us. In one of his speeches in the National Assembly, Prime Minister Pashinyan mentioned that there is an idea to separate the Nagorno-Karabakh issue from Armenia-Azerbaijan relations. We must now actively discuss…

The European Union will wean itself off natural gas supplied by Russia in the coming years, the bloc’s top diplomat promised on Thursday, RT reports. Speaking to Television Espanola, Josep Borrell, the high representative of the EU for foreign affairs and security policy, said EU members had come to the conclusion that they are too…

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday (July 29) that Moscow would soon propose a time for a call with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in which Blinken has said he wants to discuss an exchange of prisoners held in Russian and U.S. jails, Reuters reports. Blinken said on Wednesday that Washington had…

The grain deal’s success may create an atmosphere of trust between Russia and Ukraine, facilitating efforts to resolve the Ukrainian crisis, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday, TASS reports.   According to him, Ankara is ready to do everything to help resolve the conflict, particularly by hosting meetings between Russia and Ukraine at…

On July 28, Armenia’s Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan received the Russian Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, special representative of the Russian Foreign Minister Igor Khovaev.   During the meeting, a wide range of issues related to the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the Nagorno Karabakh conflict were discussed.   Minister Mirzoyan…

Reuters. Hundreds of supporters of populist Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr broke into Iraq’s parliament on Wednesday (July 27) as the country reached 290 days without a government.   Infighting among Shi’ite and Kurdish groups in particular has prevented the formation of a government, hampering reforms needed as the country struggles to recover from decades of…

People from multiple parties at a newly-established Joint Coordination Center in Turkey are striving jointly to ensure safe grain shipment from Ukraine, said a coordinator from the United Nations.   Turkey inaugurated the Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul on Wednesday to monitor the implementation of the grain shipment process from Ukraine, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi…

Sweden has not yet extradited suspects Turkey seeks over terrorism-related charges, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on Wednesday, DW reports.   “They must fulfill their responsibilities, or we’ll block their NATO bids,” Çavuşoğlu said, according to state broadcaster TRT World.     Çavuşoğlu also claimed, “terror propaganda in Sweden and Finland continues.”   Sweden and…

The Kremlin has confirmed that talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan will take place in Sochi on August 5. “Yes,” Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in response to a question by TASS as to whether such a meeting is planned. Earlier on Tuesday, the administration of the Turkish…

Iran has said it has new ideas to restore its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers after the European Union’s coordinator proposed what seems to be a final text to reach an agreement, Al Jazeera reports.   EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Tuesday that he had proposed a text to restore the…

Remarks and the answers to the questions of journalists of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan following the meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Czechia Jan Lipavský.   Dear Minister,   Dear Colleagues,   Ladies and Gentlemen,   Firstly, I would like to thank my colleague Jan Lipavský for the…

Reuters. The first ships to export Ukraine grain from the country’s Black Sea ports may move within a few days under a deal agreed on Friday by Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations, a U.N. spokesperson said on Monday.   A Joint Coordination Center will liaise with the shipping industry and will publish detailed…

Negotiations are on to organize a meeting between the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, according to a senior lawmaker in Armenia’s Parliament. “Recently rather active work is done in the diplomatic sector, including in the context of the parliament, parliamentary diplomacy,” Eduard Aghajanyan, the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee…

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said the West’s job should not be to hope for a Ukrainian victory, but to mediate a peace deal. “We should not be on the side of Russia or Ukraine, but between them,” he said, adding that the policy of imposing anti-Russian sanctions did not work. Oleg Nikolenko, spokesman for…

The special representative of Turkey in the Armenia-Turkey settlement process, Serdar Kılıç, accompanied by some officials, visited Kars on July 24. This is reported by the Turkish media. He visited the Akyaka Doğu Kapı Border Gate in Kars checkpoint, and then visited the ruins of Ani. Kılıç left the city after some meetings in Kars….

In an interview with the American edition of The Wall Street Journal, Volodymyr Zelensky said that the daily losses of the Ukrainian army have decreased due to the supply of Western weapons and their effective use at the front.   According to the president, in May-June, the daily losses of the army amounted to 100…

A Russian Defense Ministry spokesman said on Friday that Russian armed forces have destroyed U.S.-made HIMARS multiple rocket launchers held by Ukraine in a series of recent military strikes, while the Ukrainian side claimed on the same day that its forces have repelled Russian attacks on multiple fronts, Reuters reports. Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Igor…

The border between Iran and Armenia has always been safe, Tehran will not allow it to be harmed, said Shahriar Heydari, chairman of the committee on border issues of the foreign policy and national security committee of the Iranian Parliament. The official thus referred to the statement of the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in the…

Reuters. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu arrived in Istanbul on Friday (July 22), where Russia and Ukraine will later sign a deal to facilitate grain exports.   Shoigu will also hold a bilateral meeting with his Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar, the RIA Novosti news agency reported, citing Russia’s defence ministry.   The Turkish government said…

ARMENPRESS. The delegation led by the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament David McAllister is on a regional visit to Armenia. During the press conference held in the National Assembly of Armenia, Eduard Aghajanyan, the chairman of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Foreign Relations, stated that on July 22,…

Reuters. The Kremlin said on Thursday that Moscow hopes that Britain’s next prime minister will adopt a level-headed position towards Russia.   Speaking to reporters on a conference call, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said: “We hope that the future Prime Minister of Great Britain will lean towards more balanced rhetoric towards our country.”   Former…

Reuters. The Kremlin said on Thursday (July 21) that Russian President Vladimir Putin was in good health, dismissing what it called false reports he was unwell.   “Everything is fine with his health,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in reply to a question at his daily briefing.   “You know that Ukrainian “information specialists”… and…

The Turkish Ministry of Agriculture recently announced the expansion of the “Agricultural Land Leasing” program in response to rising food costs amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Reuters reports. Turkey’s currency, the lira, lost more than 40 percent of its value last year and has further plunged by over 20 percent this year. After May, the lira…

Eight civilians died and another 23 people were injured in a Turkish attack on Iraq’s northern province of Dohuk, Iraq’s state media said on Wednesday (July 20), Reuters reports. The “fierce artillery bombing” hit a resort in Zakho, a city on the border between Iraq’s Kurdistan region and Turkey, state TV said. All killed were…

On July 19, within the framework of his official visit to Poland, Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan held a meeting with Foreign Minister of Poland Zbigniew Rau. The Ministers congratulated each other on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Armenia and Poland and underscored that the cooperation…

Recep Erdogan expressed hope that decisions taken at session of the high-level cooperation council between Turkey and Iran, held in Tehran, will give new impetus to the bilateral relations. As a result of the negotiations, agreements and memorandums of cooperation in the political, economic and social spheres were signed, including the Comprehensive Cooperation Program between…

The meeting of Armenian and Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers Ararat Mirzoyan and Jeyhun Bayramov in Tbilisi is an important step towards a comprehensive solution. EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy Josep Borrell wrote about it on his Twitter. “Welcome the meeting between Ararat Mirzoyan and Bayramov Jeyhun in Tbilisi. Important step towards the comprehensive…

US State Department Spokesman Ned Price, during a briefing with journalists, referring to the meeting of Armenian and Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers Ararat Mirzoyan and Jeyhun Bayramov in Georgia and the normalization of relations between the two countries, noted that the US plays an active role in that process. “US is ready and stand ready to…

European Union foreign ministers sought on Monday to show that the bloc can maintain its financial and military support for Ukraine despite the serious inflationary impact on EU economies five months after Russia’s special military operation, Reuters reports. The foreign ministers are likely to approve another 500 million euros ($504.35 million) of EU funding to…