April 11, 2026
Davit Minasyan’s lawyer Lusine Martirosyan writes:
“IMPORTANT!
A little while ago, on a non-working day, the body conducting the proceedings in the case of Davit Minasyan announced the end of the preliminary investigation. This action proves that their goal is to prevent the possibility of releasing Davit Minasyan by the decision of the appeals court on April 17.”
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I will not be the prime minister, I have 3-4 candidates for the prime minister. Tsarukyan
April 9, 2026
“We have 3-4 candidates,” Gagik Tsarukyan said in a conversation with journalists, answering the question of who will be the PAP prime minister’s candidate.
Gagik Tsarukyan also mentioned that he will not be prime minister if his forces win the elections.
“I don’t want the people to say that Tsarukyan came to fight for office. That’s the only thing that stopped me,” said Gagik Tsarukyan.
He also assured that cooperation with CP is excluded, they will not vote for that force if it depends on their vote whether they will be in power or not.
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Pashinyan recites the Beatitudes in Easter address
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan delivered an address on Holy Saturday to congratulate Armenians on Easter.
Pashinyan recited The Beatitudes of Jesus Christ, according to the Gospel of Matthew:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Pashinyan added the traditional Armenian Apostolic Church Easter greeting and response: “Christ is risen from the dead. Blessed is the Resurrection of Christ.”
Putin issues ultimatum to Armenia over closer ties with EU
In a rare blunt exchange at the Kremlin, Russia’s president issued a public warning to Armenia, telling Yerevan to choose between the EU and Russia. The Armenian prime minister responded that in his country, the people of Armenia run a democratic political process.
Moscow will not tolerate Armenia’s closer ties with the EU, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan during a rare and tense meeting at the Kremlin on Wednesday, issuing a not-so-veiled threat over Russian gas supplies to the neighbouring country.
“We see that there is a discussion in Armenia about developing relations with the European Union,” Putin said at the meeting with Pashinyan, adding that Moscow treats it “absolutely calmly”.
“But it should be obvious and honestly stated upfront that membership in a customs union with both the EU and the Eurasian Economic Union is impossible,” Putin told Pashinyan on camera.
The Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) created in 2015 includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, and it is meant to enable the free movement of goods, capital and labour among its members.
During the meeting at the Kremlin, Putin followed up on Moscow’s gas supplies to Armenia, saying that Russia now sells gas to its neighbour at a “substantially” lower price than the EU does.
“Gas prices in Europe exceed 600 dollars per 1,000 cubic metres, whereas Russia provides gas to Armenia at 177.5 per 1,000 cubic metres,” he told Pashinyan, adding that “the disparity is vast, the difference is substantial.”
Ever since it made peace with Azerbaijan, Armenia has increasingly said it is seeking closer ties with the EU, with Pashinyan even declaring an intention to join the 27-member bloc in the future.
In a series of countering answers which underline Armenia’s new positioning in the South Caucasus and in Russia’s former sphere of influence, the Armenian premier told Putin that he realised that his country could not simultaneously be a member of both blocs, and that for now it could combine its membership in the Eurasian Economic Union with developing cooperation with Brussels — and that as long as Yerevan can balance the two agendas it intends to do so.
The Armenian leader made it clear that when the time comes to make a choice, it will be solemnly made by the citizens of Armenia, without any interference.
“And when the processes reach the point where it will be necessary to make a decision, I am sure that we, I mean the citizens of the Republic of Armenia, will make that decision,” Pashinyan told Putin, not mincing words.
With its long-standing influence in the South Caucasus fading and what appears to be the Kremlin’s ongoing intent to have a say in Armenia’s political decision-making, Putin told Pashiyan that Moscow hopes pro-Russian forces will be allowed to compete freely in Armenia’s parliamentary elections set for June.
Without mentioning names, Russia’s president claimed that some of their representatives have been put in custody, saying, “Some are in detention despite having Russian passports.”
Putin referred to Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan, who was arrested last year after calling for the ouster of the government.
Pashinyan, also without naming Karapetyan, noted that Armenian law requires political candidates to hold exclusively Armenian citizenship, adding that “no restrictions” are being imposed on political opposition under such circumstances.
“Persons with Russian passports, according to the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, cannot be either a candidate for deputy or a candidate for prime minister,” Pashinyan explained to Putin.
Pashinyan also firmly stated to Putin that “Armenia is a democratic country”, where the political processes are ongoing at all times.
“In fact, twice a year we hold municipal elections, which are also very politicised, because as a result of our political reforms, people there also vote for or against political parties,” Pashinyan said.
The Armenian prime minister then referred to the internet outrage in Moscow and the Kremlin-introduced restrictions on the popular Telegram messaging app.
“Our social networks, for example, are 100% free, with no restrictions at all,” Pashinyan told Putin on camera.
He also added that unlike Russia there are no political prisoners in Armenia, stating that “in the general context, to be honest, we do not have participants in political processes in places of detention.”
“We have citizens who think that there is too much democracy in Armenia. But this is a matter of principle for us,” Pashinyan said.
Yerevan’s balancing act
Armenia’s relations with Russia have grown increasingly strained after Azerbaijan fully reclaimed the Karabakh region in 2023.
Decades of bloody conflict ended as the two former bitter rivals embarked on a historic peace process, launching an economic revival in the region amid new stability in the South Caucasus.
In 2024, Armenia suspended its membership in the Russia-led Yerevan Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) after Moscow failed to support Yerevan during the 2022 Karabakh escalation.
“In my opinion, the CSTO mechanisms should have been activated (in 2022),” Pashinyan told Putin, adding that “they were not activated, and this, of course, led to the situation that we have in relations with the CSTO.”
He confirmed that Armenia is currently not participating in the CSTO for what he described as a “simple reason”.
“We are still unable to explain to our people, our citizens, why the CSTO did not respond, and did not respond despite the obligations that exist under the Collective Security Treaty,” the Armenian leader told Putin.
Putin called Armenian concerns “certain grievances” as he argued that Moscow’s decision not to intervene was on Yerevan and Russia did not see a point in stepping in.
“It is obvious that after you accepted in Prague in 2022 that Karabakh is part of Azerbaijan, the CSTO’s intervention in this process, which has acquired an intra-Azerbaijani nature, was simply absolutely wrong in this matter,” Putin told Pashinyan.
“This is not an assessment, I am not saying that this is good or bad, from the point of view of organising peaceful life, I think that, probably, it made sense,” the Russian president added.
“Here we simply need to look for ways to further strengthen relations. But it seems to me that here too we need to finish here,” Putin concluded.
Since reaching an agreement to put an end to almost four decades of a bloody conflict in Karabakh, Armenia and Azerbaijan have been working on normalising and strengthening their bilateral relations, as well as the cooperation in the region, with one exception.
Russia has been notably absent from the Karabakh peace process, both during and after the agreement was reached, and both Yerevan and Baku have been distancing themselves from Moscow while jointly redirecting their foreign policy focus toward the EU and the US.
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Moldovan parliament votes to leave CIS
The Parliament of Moldova has voted for the country’s withdrawal from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
60 out of 101 deputies voted for the respective laws, according to local media reports.
The adopted documents must be signed by Moldovan President. After that, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will send the necessary papers to the CIS Executive Committee. The country’s final withdrawal from the organization will take place one year after this.
Published by Armenpress, original at
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Another attempt to deceive grandparents. 10,000 drams for 5 years of deprivation
April 1, 2026
In recent years, the pension in Armenia has always been lower than the value of the minimum food basket. But the members of the Communist Party, who lavishly fill their own pockets with money from the state budget, “realized” only 5 years after the previous elections, that the pensioners given by them cannot even solve their own food issues.
We are not even talking about the minimum consumer basket. The value of the minimum consumer basket is almost twice the pension of a pensioner.
The members of the CP have not recently learned about this. But they remembered the pensioner only before the upcoming elections. For five years, they have not done anything to alleviate the social problems of pensioners, on the eve of the elections they decided to increase pensions and show that they have fulfilled their promise regarding the increase of pensions.
Let’s remind that in the previous elections, they promised to increase the average pension to 61 thousand drams. At the moment, it does not even reach 50 thousand drams. They raised it by only 5.4 thousand drams in five years, before the upcoming elections they decided to increase it by 10 thousand drams at once and announced that they fulfilled their promise.
It doesn’t matter that in the previous 5 years the pensioner was starved, they didn’t even give him a pension equivalent to the minimum food basket. During those 5 years, the social situation of the pensioner only worsened. It got worse not only because the pensions were raised very little, but also because the inflation exceeded the pension increase. Not counting the additional financial burden imposed on the pensioner through the increase of various taxes and fees.
Everyone understands why they decided to raise the pension now. You were an increaser, you would have increased it in previous years so that the pensioners could provide themselves with at least a minimum food basket. Otherwise, they permanently worsened the situation of the pensioner for 5 years, and on the eve of the elections, they became concerned about the pensioner.
Cumulative inflation in Armenia in five years, we are talking about average inflation, was 20.2 percent. 2021 was 7.7 percent, in 2022 – 8.3 percent.
After two years of sharp, cumulative 16 percent inflation, in 2023 only 0.6 percent inflation was recorded.
Inflation was recorded again in the next 2 years. 1.5 percent in 2024, and 3.3 percent in 2025.
During this period, the price of food became much higher. Cumulative average inflation of food made more than 24.4 percent.
In 2021-2022, in just 2 years, food inflation of almost 23 percent was recorded. 2023 There was a 4.8 percent deflation, but food prices continued to rise in the following 2 years. Cumulative inflation in those years was another 6.3 percent.
At first glance, inflation in Armenia has moderated in recent years, the rates of price increases have weakened. But this happened after previous sharp price increases. It is because of these price increases that the inflation rates have weakened in the previous 2-3 years. If we compare today’s prices with 2021 back, we will see that there are significant differences, and these differences have been borne by the pensioners for years. However, the authorities at that time were busy filling their own pockets and did almost nothing to alleviate the impact of inflation on the most vulnerable sections of society.
In the past 5 years, according to official data, the average pension in Armenia has increased by only 12.5 percent. Meanwhile, during that period, cumulative inflation was 20.2 percent, food prices increased by 24.4 percent on average.
The increase in the price of food almost doubled the increase in the average pension.
It doesn’t even make sense to talk about the much sharper price increases of basic necessities, when even the average inflation was much higher than the increase of the average pension. And that means that the living conditions of pensioners have only worsened these years.
After worsening the social condition of pensioners for five years, by increasing their pension by 10,000 drams, they want to deceive their grandparents that they will live better from now on. However, those 10,000 drams will not even cover the effect of the high inflation of the previous period. With that, they may live a little better than last year, which is not yet certain, considering the recent inflation activation, but they will continue to live worse than they did years ago, because the impact of inflation, especially real inflation, is much greater than the increase in pensions.
For five years, they did nothing to at least adjust pensions to the level of inflation, they left this vulnerable social class to become impoverished and bear the heavy impact of inflation, today, before the elections, they started talking about indexation of pensions in the following years. Recently, Nikol Pashinyan announced this within the framework of the party campaign. Until recently, they insisted that pensioners need a pension increase, but they don’t know how to spend the money. Before the elections, they are afraid that they will lose the pensioners’ votes. not only have they decided to raise pensions from April 1, but they also promise to adjust pensions with inflation every year.
He says, “I have made a decision. From 2027 or 2028, every year, the government will make a decision to increase pensions by the rate of inflation.”
If someone asks, why didn’t you raise pensions every year in line with inflation in the previous 5 years?
They let the pensioners suffer for 5 years in order to deceive them before the elections that, in case of re-election, we will index pensions.
You used to do it before, who was holding your hands? You have not done it for five years, now why should the pensioner believe that you will do it later?
HAKOB KOCHARYAN
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Iran is drafting law to introduce tolls for Hormuz transit
Ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz will be subject to a toll under the new law that the Iranian Parliament will adopt soon, said a member of the Iranian parliament’s Committee for Foreign Policy and National Security Alaeddin Boroujerdi, according to TASS news agency.
“We have complete control over the Strait of Hormuz. A new system will govern this waterway soon once a bill is adopted by the Majlis [parliament]. Security and services for ships will be ensured through fees [for passage through the strait] stipulated by the bill,” he said in an interview with Iranian media, according to TASS.
The U.S. and Israel launched what they described as a pre-emptive strike against Iran on February 28, claiming that Tehran was developing a nuclear weapon and posed a threat—an allegation Iran has denied. In response, Iran launched counterattacks, firing missiles and drones at Israel, as well as at U.S. assets and other targets across the Middle East. Iranian authorities also decided to close the Strait of Hormuz to vessels linked to the U.S., Israel, and countries that supported the attacks. During the conflict, several tankers were attacked for transiting the strait without Tehran’s permission. On March 25, Iran announced that it had allowed its friendly countries, including Russia, India, Iraq, China, and Pakistan, to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
The US-Israeli war against Iran has thrust the Middle East into crisis and sent the price of oil surging by more than 50 per cent in a month. Brent crude rose above $116 a barrel on Monday morning in Asia, near its highest level since the conflict began, according to FT.
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American University of Armenia switches to online learning ‘amid threats from
The American University of Armenia (AUA) has shifted to remote lectures following threats from Iran to target US and Israeli universities in retaliation for attacks on Iranian universities. The AUA described the move as a ‘precautionary measure’, while stressing that it has received no direct threats.
The university released a statement on Monday noting that all classes planned for the day would be held ‘fully online’.
It added that the AUA was ‘monitoring the situation closely’ and would provide updates on any changes to the schedule if they occur.
‘In taking this step, we emphasise that we have received no direct threats against our university, and no indication that we are in any kind of danger, so there is no cause for alarm’, the AUA underscored in its statement.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) issued its warning on 29 March, weeks into its conflict with the US and Israel. It warned that Israeli and US universities ‘in the West Asia region’ were ‘legitimate targets’ in retaliation for Iranian universities damaged in US and Israeli attacks.
The IRGC issued the threats following the bombing of Tehran University of Science and Technology, as well as the ‘targeting Iranian universities with their bombings for the umpteenth time’.
The IRGC urged staff, students of American universities, as well as people residing near such institutions, ‘to stay at least one kilometre away from these universities to ensure their safety’.
It also issued a precondition: if the US government wanted its universities “to be spared at this stage beyond the two retaliatory targets, it must, by no later than 12:00 on Monday, 30 March (Tehran time), issue an official statement condemning the bombing of universities’.
‘If it also wants to prevent further strikes on its universities in the region, it must restrain its allied forces from attacking universities and research centres. Otherwise, the threat remains valid and will be carried out’, the statement concluded.
Following the threat, the American University of Beirut moved classes online, and the US Embassy in Iraq warned that American universities in Baghdad, Sulaymaniyah, and Dohuk could also be targeted.
Armenia has good relations with Iran, with whom it shares an open border, unlike Turkey and Azerbaijan. There is also a modest population of ethnic Armenians in Iran, numbering some 60,000 to 80,000, according to various estimates.
Armenia’s government programme for 2021–2026 describes the bilateral relations with Iran as ‘special’, adding that Yerevan is seeking ‘to further develop’ ties. Despite Armenia fostering closer bonds to the West, including the US, Armenia has continued to maintain its cordial relationship with Iran.
Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan stated in mid-March that Armenia had sent its first humanitarian aid to Iran since the war broke out there on 28 February.
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Amid reports of potential Kazakh takeover, Armenian PM says railway management
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan did not rule out the possibility of a Kazakh company taking over the concession agreement of the Armenian railways from Russia, but noted that talks are still ongoing.
Pashinyan previously called for an end to Russian management of Armenia’s railway network, which operates under a concession agreement. He specifically stated that, in the context of current regional connectivity development projects, it would be preferable for another country—particularly one with friendly ties to both Armenia and Russia—to take over management. He argued that some countries might choose not to make shipments through Armenia due to Russian management of the railway system, thereby reducing Armenia’s competitiveness.
At a press briefing on Thursday, Pashinyan was asked to confirm or deny media reports that talks are underway on a potential Kazakh takeover of the management rights.
“We would not be opposed if it turns out that there is an understanding between us and Russia that the Kazakh company is acceptable for both sides. At the moment, negotiations are proceeding a little differently, as our Russian partners have not yet said, ‘Okay, let’s do it.’ Such ideas exist, but they are still just floating ideas,” the Prime Minister said.
Pashinyan also noted that a few days ago, during a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the issue concerning the Armenian railway was discussed; however, he added that there is no news in this regard, and it remains a working process that continues.
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Armenian President commends Prime Insurance Brokers following Lloyd’s accredit
Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan attended an event hosted by Prime Insurance Brokers to mark its accreditation by Lloyd’s.
“Prime Insurance Brokers” has become the first company in Armenia to receive brokerage accreditation from Lloyd’s, the world’s leading insurance and reinsurance marketplace.
This significant achievement reflects the company’s high professional standards, reliability, and compliance with international benchmarks, the President’s Office said in a statement, adding that Khachaturyan welcomed the Armenian company’s notable accomplishment and wished it continued success and further achievements.
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