Author: Emil Lazarian

Armenia’s Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and Germany’s Federal Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul discussed issues related to the Armenia–Germany bilateral partnership during a meeting in Luxembourg City.

According to Armenia’s Foreign Ministry, both sides emphasized the importance of continued joint efforts to implement the provisions of the Declaration on the Strategic Agenda for Bilateral Partnership, signed in December last year.

The German foreign minister also congratulated Mirzoyan on the successful conduct of democratic elections in Armenia and the election outcome, reaffirming Germany’s support for Armenia’s democratic development and its path toward closer integration with Europe.

The ministers exchanged views on deepening the strategic partnership between Armenia and the European Union.

The meeting also addressed regional developments. Mirzoyan presented Armenia’s vision regarding the process of normalizing relations with its neighbouring countries.

US President Donald Trump has announced the resumption of maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

“Ships are starting to move, many loaded up with oil, out of the Strait of Hormuz. They are going along the southern highway, which is totally safe, secure, and pristine. There are other areas of travel, also,” Trump wrote on the Truth Social platform.

Earlier, Iran published details of a memorandum on resolving the conflict with the United States, one of whose provisions concerned reopening the Strait of Hormuz and lifting sanctions related to oil sales.

Trump later announced that a peace agreement with Iran had been finalised.

“The deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is done. Congratulations to everyone. Effective immediately, I fully authorise the unrestricted opening of the Strait of Hormuz and simultaneously authorise the immediate lifting of the United States naval blockade. Ships of the world, start your engines. Let the oil flow,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos has announced that she will visit Armenia on July 5.

In a statement on X, Commissioner Kos said she met with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan ahead of the Foreign Affairs Council session in Luxembourg, where member states will discuss continued support for Armenia.

“Russia continues to intensify pressure on Armenia, trying to influence the country away from the democratic choice made by its people in the last elections. I met Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan ahead of tomorrow’s Foreign Affairs Council, where we will discuss with Members [how to] continue supporting Armenia, showing our solidarity. We will provide financial assistance and help make it easier for Armenia to trade with its neighbours and with Europe. I will travel to Yerevan on 5 July to take forward concrete steps,” Kos said on Sunday.

Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan is visiting Luxembourg at the invitation of EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas to participate in an EU Foreign Affairs Council discussion on June 15.

Russia has been imposing growing restrictions and bans on Armenian goods ahead of the June 7 parliamentary elections, and the measures remain in force. The move has prompted exporters to seek new markets, including in the EU. The EU has introduced support measures to help Armenian producers access new markets.

Firebird press release 

Firebird Inc. announced the signing of strategic cooperation agreements with the Government of Kazakhstan aimed at supporting the development of national next-generation artificial intelligence infrastructure, advanced computing capacity, and a globally competitive digital AI ecosystem.

The discussions and signing of cooperation agreements were held in Astana with the participation of Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan Olzhas Bektenov, Vice President of Omniverse and Simulation Technology at NVIDIA Rev Lebaredian, Firebird Co-Founders Razmig Hovaghimian and Alexander Yesayan, senior officials of the Government and representatives of the country’s leading technology organizations.

The cooperation establishes a foundation for future collaboration in AI infrastructure, advanced computing systems, cloud technologies, research initiatives, and digital economy development. It supports Kazakhstan’s ambition to strengthen its position as a leading technology and innovation hub in Central Eurasia.

The agreements follow a high-level meeting earlier this year between President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, NVIDIA Vice President of Global AI Infrastructure Growth Nico Caprez, and Firebird Co-Founders, where the parties discussed opportunities for collaboration in the design, construction, and operation of large-scale next-generation computing platforms.

“Countries that invest today in advanced AI computing capacity, talent development, and innovation ecosystems will shape the economic opportunities of tomorrow. Firebird combines proven deployment experience with cutting edge U.S. technology stack, deep partnerships across the global AI ecosystem, and the ability to execute large-scale AI infrastructure projects securely, with exceptional speed. We are proud to support Kazakhstan’s vision and look forward to helping build long-term national AI capacity,” said Razmig Hovaghimian.

“Artificial intelligence is becoming the new foundational infrastructure of the global economy. To develop our own AI solutions, individual digital products are not enough: a holistic ecosystem is needed, encompassing energy, modern data centers, computing power, data, and access to advanced technologies. Kazakhstan is consistently building such a foundation. Our goal is to transform the country’s infrastructural advantages into a long-term driver of economic growth and strengthen Kazakhstan’s position as one of the key digital hubs in Eurasia,” noted Zhaslan Madiyev, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Firebird is currently completing the first phase of its flagship AI Factory in Armenia, scheduled to become operational in July 2026. Developed from initial construction to deployment readiness in just over six months, the project represents one of the fastest AI infrastructure rollouts of its kind globally. Under Firebird’s approved three-phase expansion strategy, the platform is designed to scale beyond 100,000 NVIDIA Blackwell and Vera Rubin GPUs by the end of 2027, creating one of the world’s largest AI computing platforms.

Firebird’s experience demonstrates that large-scale AI infrastructure projects can be successfully delivered through collaboration between governments, technology companies, financial institutions, and research communities.

Firebird is not just building data centers. The company creates national AI capacity that allows countries to participate in the AI economy at global scale.

About Firebird

Firebird is a U.S.-based AI cloud and infrastructure company designed to provide secure, scalable, and globally accessible GPU infrastructure. Its mission is to democratize access to advanced AI computing, enabling innovation across research and enterprise in both the private and public sectors.

Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan is on a visit to Luxembourg at the invitation of EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas to participate in a discussion in the format of the EU Foreign Affairs Council, the foreign ministry has announced.

A video released by the foreign ministry showed Mirzoyan greeting EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas, as well as counterparts from across Europe.

Armenia’s Central Electoral Commission (CEC) has explained why it will not hold repeat voting in three polling stations where the results of the June 7 parliamentary elections were annulled.

In a statement on Monday, the CEC said that a re-vote is not automatically required after invalidating results, and that any decision must ensure fairness and avoid creating new distortions in the electoral process, especially risks such as tactical voting.

Below is the full statement released by the CEC:

“The Central Electoral Commission should not automatically schedule a repeat vote after declaring election results in any polling station invalid. When making such a decision, the Commission must take into account the protection of voters’ true will and the assurance of the legality of election results. Therefore, the CEC must choose a remedy that is necessary under the given circumstances, proportionate, and does not create greater distortion than the violation it is intended to correct.

In the case of a partial re-vote, the following issue arises. Voters who participated in the main election cast their ballots at a time when the overall results were not known. They did not know who was leading, what the vote gap was, which political force would pass the threshold, or what impact their vote would have on the final outcome.

Meanwhile, voters in a repeat election would vote in a different situation, where the overall picture may already be known (in this case, 99.8% of votes had been counted). In such conditions, voters’ choices may be influenced not by their original political preference and free _expression_ of will, but by calculations aimed at altering the already known result. This risk is commonly referred to as tactical voting.

The Venice Commission has also acknowledged that partial re-voting is not always an appropriate remedy. In a 2025 urgent report, it states that if violations concern only certain polling stations, the response may in principle be limited to those stations. However, it also notes an important exception: partial re-voting is not appropriate if, due to the possibility of tactical voting, it cannot ensure a fair electoral outcome.

From the perspective of equal suffrage, the issue is also clear. A repeat vote could violate electoral equality, as one group of voters would be placed in significantly different initial conditions compared to others.

In this regard, the position of the Constitutional Court of Armenia is also important, according to which, when assessing the consequences of electoral violations, the rights of voters who cast their ballots lawfully must also be protected. If the will of voters in the main election has already been lawfully expressed, then a subsequent re-vote should not have a secondary or calculated impact on that will.

Therefore, when deciding on a re-vote, the CEC must also consider whether it would ensure the same free and equal environment as on the main election day. Does the known result create a risk of tactical voting? Are the rights of voters who already voted lawfully being undermined? Have sources of illegal or corrupt influence been neutralized?

If the answers to these questions indicate that a re-vote would not ensure a free, equal, and fair outcome, then it should not be held. Not ordering a re-vote in such a case does not mean ignoring the violation; it means not choosing a remedy that could further distort the will of voters.

The CEC must be guided not by a mechanical logic of repeat elections, but by the constitutional principles of free and equal elections, proportionality, and protection of voters’ genuine will, as an independent body overseeing the legality of elections under the Constitution.”

***

On June 11, the CEC declared invalid the voting results in polling stations 35/65 and 10/51 from the parliamentary elections held in Armenia on June 7. This decision was based on entries made in the logs by representatives of the “Strong Armenia” party, stating that voting by military personnel had been organized at an unscheduled time in those polling stations. A request to invalidate the results in these polling stations had been submitted by Daniel Ioannisyan, a representative of the “Independent Observer” monitoring organization.

On June 12, the CEC also invalidated the voting results in polling station 12/13. This decision was based on the fact that the ballot paper of the “National Democratic Pole” party had not been available in that polling station.

Armenia’s Anti-Corruption Committee has proposed legal amendments aimed at strengthening safeguards in the electoral process.

Based on findings from investigations into corruption-related electoral crimes in the run-up to the June 7 elections, the law enforcement body has proposed a potential ban on political forces involved in such schemes from participating in future elections.

The motion to initiate legal amendments was sent by Anti-Corruption Committee Chairman Artur Nahapetyan to Minister of Justice Srbuhi Galyan.

“Emphasizing the importance of ensuring the legality of electoral processes, the Committee has preliminarily summarized the data from proceedings conducted in cases of corruption-related electoral crimes uncovered in the period preceding the 2026 National Assembly elections. The mechanisms through which these crimes were carried out, as well as the circumstances facilitating their commission, have been identified. On this basis, the head of the Anti-Corruption Committee of Armenia has addressed the Minister of Justice, requesting the initiation of legislative amendments aimed at eliminating the circumstances that facilitate the commission of such crimes. These amendments would minimize the possibility of using the identified criminal schemes in the future, including by banning the participation in electoral processes of political forces involved in such schemes,” the Anti-Corruption Committee said in a press release.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, whose country has been mediating talks between the United States and Iran, has said that Washington and Tehran will sign a peace deal on Friday in Switzerland.

“Following intensive talks, we are pleased to announce that the Peace Deal between the United States of America and Islamic Republic of Iran has been REACHED. Both sides have declared the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon. The official signing ceremony will be on Friday, 19 June in Switzerland. We would like to thank the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran for their commitment to finding a diplomatic solution to the conflict. We would also like to extend our sincere appreciation to our brothers in this mediation effort, the great leadership of State of Qatar, for their support in reaching this agreement. I would also especially thank the visionary leadership of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Republic of Türkiye for their immense contributions in this regard. With the agreement now in place, mediators will facilitate a series of meetings this week. These pre-implementation discussions will lay the foundation for the technical talks and the official signing ceremony,” Sharif said on X.

U.S. President Donald Trump earlier announced that a deal with Iran had been finalized.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree increasing the authorized strength of the Russian Armed Forces to 2,399,130 personnel, including 1.51 million military servicemen.

Russian media reported on the signing of the decree by the Russian president.

The document states that the previous decree on the size of the Russian Armed Forces, adopted on March 4, 2026, is no longer in force.

Under the previous decree, the authorized strength of the armed forces had been set at 2,391,770 personnel. The new decree increases the authorized size of the military by approximately 7,300 personnel.

The updated measure formally raises the maximum permitted strength of Russia’s armed forces, with military personnel accounting for 1.51 million of the total authorized number.