Category: News

Armenia has no intention of severing or worsening relations with Russia; on the contrary, they should be developed further, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in an interview with RFI’s Armenian service, responding to a question about whether Armenia is trying to reduce its economic dependence on Russia.

The Prime Minister added that Armenian-Russian relations cannot be the same as before, because back then there was a conflict with Azerbaijan, whereas now there is peace.

“We want to strengthen, consolidate and develop our independence. That is why we have adopted a balanced and balancing foreign policy. We want our businesses to have alternatives in terms of exports and imports. For example, previously, Armenia’s market for imports of gasoline and petroleum products was highly concentrated. Changes in the external environment would lead to major problems for us. In recent years, petroleum products have been imported into Armenia by dozens of companies rather than just a few. This situation has allowed us to avoid being hit harder by crises related to petroleum products on the global market than other countries. For example, problems related to petroleum products arose in Russia as a result of Ukraine’s actions, but thanks to our domestic policies, Armenia did not experience those problems,” Pashinyan said.

Asked whether Armenia would hold a referendum on leaving the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), Pashinyan replied that, to take such a step, Armenia would first have to at least submit an application to join the European Union.

The Prime Minister also added that Armenia is not ready to become a member of the European Union at this point. He said many reforms must be implemented for Armenia to meet the European Union’s standards.

The incursion of an Azerbaijani serviceman into a village in southern Armenia earlier this month cannot in any way call into question the peace established between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in an interview with RFI’s Armenian service.

“Over the past 30 years, there have been dozens of cases in which soldiers from both sides have simply got lost in fog, as well as for other reasons, and crossed the border of Armenia or Azerbaijan. This incident cannot call into question the peace established between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” the Armenian prime minister said, highlighting Azerbaijan’s communication with Yerevan about the serviceman leaving his post.

“First of all, Azerbaijan informed Armenia that one of its servicemen had left his post without authorization and that they were searching for him but had been unable to find him. Based on this, there was a possibility that he might have crossed into Armenian territory. According to the evidence currently available to the investigation, the serviceman crossed the Armenian border, entered a house, spent the night there, and then the incident occurred. This is an ordinary criminal situation,” the prime minister said.

Pashinyan emphasized that there had been no casualties or injuries resulting from cross-border shooting between Armenia and Azerbaijan for more than two years.

The prime minister also noted that in 2024, Armenia and Azerbaijan signed their first bilateral, legally binding document, which was ratified by both countries. The document affirms that the Alma-Ata Declaration will serve as the fundamental principle for the delimitation of the border between the two countries.

Armenia’s National Security Service said on October 1 that it had been notified by Azerbaijani authorities on September 29 that an Azerbaijani serviceman had allegedly gone AWOL and was missing.

The Azerbaijani side did not rule out the possibility that he had crossed into Armenia.

Armenia and Azerbaijan conducted a joint search operation.

Later, on October 1, Armenian emergency services received a report that a 39-year-old Armenian woman, Ani Avetisyan, had been shot in the leg at her home in Shaki, a village in Syunik. 

Authorities determined that the Azerbaijani serviceman was the shooter. He was apprehended and detained shortly afterward in the settlement after fleeing the woman’s home.

Health authorities said earlier that Avetisyan was in stable, non-life-threatening condition and was receiving the necessary treatment. Her children, aged 15 and 12, who were with their mother during the incident, also sought medical assistance. The 12-year-old sustained soft-tissue bruising, while the 15-year-old sustained a fracture of the right wrist.

The Azerbaijani serviceman, Nasimi Musayev, faces charges of illegally crossing Armenia’s state border; smuggling military-use products, firearms and ammunition; illegally trafficking in firearms and ammunition; illegally entering another person’s residence against their will; and causing grievous bodily harm under aggravating circumstances, including with a firearm. He is being held in pretrial detention.

Two Armenian citizens have been arrested and remanded in pretrial custody on suspicion of involvement in smuggling 69.3 kilograms of marijuana into Armenia from Iran, the National Security Service (NSS) said.

The suspects, identified by their initials N.H. and V.T., were detained in the Meghri community after NSS officers intercepted their vehicle, a Mercedes-Benz ML, as they headed toward Yerevan, according to the agency.

The investigation found that on September 29, the two men allegedly collected a shipment of drugs from a hiding place near Nrnadzor village, close to the Armenian-Iranian border. The hiding place had been indicated by an Iranian citizen whose identity has not yet been established.

According to the NSS, the two Armenians had allegedly conspired with the Iranian citizen to obtain the drugs, which had been smuggled into Armenia from Iran, for subsequent sale. The suspects allegedly acted as a group, coordinating and complementing one another’s actions.

A total of 69.3 kilograms of marijuana was found and seized from their vehicle during procedural actions.

A criminal proceeding has been launched by the Syunik Regional Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee under several provisions of Armenia’s Criminal Code concerning drug trafficking and smuggling. The two suspects have been remanded in custody by court order.

A meeting chaired by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan discussed the concept for the effective management of confiscated assets.

The Prime Minister’s Office said in a press release that Justice Minister Srbuhi Galyan reported on the work carried out following previous discussions and emphasized the importance of introducing a mechanism for the effective management of confiscated assets, both in terms of Armenia’s international commitments and the country’s economic stability, restoration of the rule of law, and strengthening of public trust.

Presenting the concept, Galyan addressed the establishment of a unified asset management system, the general principles governing the management of confiscated assets, the types of assets subject to confiscation, and the specific features of their management.

Details were also presented on a unified electronic register of confiscated assets, which is intended to ensure transparency and accountability.

Discussions covered the unified asset management system, the scope of assets to be managed, and other related issues. Officials put forward observations and proposals on these matters.

Emphasizing that the effective management of confiscated assets is one of the Government’s key priorities in its anti-corruption policy and economic reforms, Prime Minister Pashinyan stressed the importance of developing and implementing conceptual approaches in this area.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met Armenian Constitutional Court President Arman Dilanyan at the government headquarters as Dilanyan approaches the end of his six-year term as president of the court.

According to the Prime Minister’s Office, Pashinyan thanked Dilanyan for his work and for serving as Constitutional Court president during a difficult period.

“This provision is being applied for the first time: the serving Constitutional Court president’s term ends after six years, and the court must elect a new president. As I reflect on your time in office, I would like once again to express my appreciation, because holding one of the country’s highest offices and bringing that term to its natural conclusion certainly says a great deal,” the prime minister said.

Dilanyan reflected on his work over the past six years. The Constitutional Court president also thanked his colleagues, with whom he had been able to navigate that difficult period while standing alongside both the people and the state.

The woman who was shot and wounded by an Azerbaijani serviceman in Shaki settlement, Syunik Province, on October 1, and her two children have been officially recognized as victims in the criminal case, the Investigative Committee of Armenia told Armenpress.

Armenia’s National Security Service said on October 1 that it had been notified by Azerbaijani authorities on September 29 that an Azerbaijani serviceman had allegedly gone AWOL and was missing.

The Azerbaijani side did not rule out the possibility that he had crossed into Armenia.

Armenia and Azerbaijan conducted a joint search operation.

Later, on October 1, Armenian emergency services received a report that a 39-year-old Armenian woman, Ani Avetisyan, had been shot in the leg at her home in Shaki. Authorities determined that the Azerbaijani serviceman was the shooter. He was apprehended and detained shortly afterward in the settlement after fleeing the woman’s home.

Health authorities said earlier that Avetisyan was in stable, non-life-threatening condition and was receiving the necessary treatment. Her children, aged 15 and 12, who were with their mother during the incident, also sought medical assistance. The 12-year-old sustained soft-tissue bruising, while the 15-year-old sustained a fracture of the right wrist.

The Azerbaijani serviceman, Nasimi Musayev, faces charges of illegally crossing Armenia’s state border; smuggling military-use products, firearms and ammunition; illegally trafficking in firearms and ammunition; illegally entering another person’s residence against their will; and causing grievous bodily harm under aggravating circumstances, including with a firearm. He is being held in pretrial detention.

The parliament ratified the financial agreement between the Republic of Armenia and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development for the Armenia Housing Response and Mortgage Market Enhancement Project.

The agreement on the program to support housing provision for families displaced from Karabakh was ratified with 66 votes in favor and 21 abstentions.

“The total financing for the program is $284.4 million, of which $264.4 million is loan financing. $240 million is a loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, while $24.4 million is a grant from the Global Concessional Financing Facility,” Deputy Minister of Labor and Welfare Lusine Kocharyan said.

The planned financing will be provided in stages. More than 6 billion drams have already been paid from the state budget under the program.

The parliament has ratified an agreement between the Government of the Republic of Armenia and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) on hosting the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the Convention on Biological Diversity, along with CP-MOP-12 and NP-MOP-6.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Robert Abisoghomonyan presented the agreement to lawmakers.

“The conference will include the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, the 12th meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, which regulates biosafety issues, and the 6th meeting of the Parties to the Nagoya Protocol, which regulates access to genetic resources and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their utilization. The agreement establishes the mutual obligations of the Government of the Republic of Armenia and the Secretariat of the Convention. It concerns legal, financial, administrative and organizational matters related to the organization and holding of the conference,” Abisoghomonyan said.

The agreement regulates the provision of the conference venue and necessary infrastructure, technical and communication facilities, arrangements for receiving delegations, and other matters.

“Ratification of the agreement is important, first and foremost, for the proper fulfillment of the international obligations undertaken by the Republic of Armenia. It also makes it possible to clearly regulate matters related to hosting a conference of this scale,” the deputy minister said.

Armenia will host COP 17 in 2026 and hold the presidency until 2028, undertaking to unite international efforts to address the environmental challenges facing humanity.

The Conference of the Parties (COP), the Convention’s supreme decision-making body, brings together representatives of the Convention’s 196 Parties every two years to review implementation and adopt decisions. COP17 will mark the first global review of collective progress towards the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF).

The 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity will be held in Yerevan on October 19–30, 2026.

Traffic restrictions will be temporarily imposed on several streets in Yerevan on October 15 and 16 due to visits by international delegations and high-ranking guests expected as part of the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

Police said that on October 15, traffic will be restricted intermittently from 06:00 to 23:00 on General I. Gasparyan Street, Yerevanyan Street, Isakov Avenue, Victory Bridge, Argishti Street, Grigor Lusavorich Street, Italy Street, Khorenatsi Street, Vazgen Sargsyan Street, Republic Square, Nalbandyan Street, Tumanyan Street, Abovyan Street, Aram Street, Pushkin Street, Teryan Street, Beirut Street, Athens Street, Brazil Square, Tsitsernakaberd Highway, Mashtots Avenue, Paronyan Street, Proshyan Street, Baghramyan Avenue, France Square, and Sayat-Nova Avenue.

On October 16, traffic will be restricted intermittently from 06:00 to 20:00 on Abovyan Street, Pushkin Street, Aram Street, Teryan Street, Tumanyan Street, Nalbandyan Street, Republic Square, Vazgen Sargsyan Street, Khorenatsi Street, Beirut Street, Grigor Lusavorich Street, Argishti Street, Mashtots Avenue, Voskerichner Street, Victory Bridge, Athens Street, Isakov Avenue, Yerevanyan Street, and General I. Gasparyan Street.

To avoid possible traffic congestion and inconvenience during the COP17 conference and reduce congestion on the capital’s road network, the police urged people to limit the use of private vehicles where possible, give preference to public transport, and plan their routes in advance, taking the planned restrictions into account.

“Recognizing that the restrictions may cause some inconvenience, we apologize and thank you for your understanding. Your support and responsible behavior are important for the safe and proper organization of this event of international significance,” the statement issued by the police reads.

Yerevan City Council will discuss a motion to designate Hrazdan Gorge a specially protected natural area of local significance under the “protected landscape” category at its October 13 session. A city official has described the move as an important decision ahead of COP17.

“This draft [motion] has already been discussed and approved at a committee meeting,” Sirarpi Haykazyan, Head of the Environmental Protection Department of Yerevan City Hall, said at a City Hall executive meeting on Monday.

“Granting Hrazdan Gorge the status of a specially protected natural area of local significance has been one of the environmental commitments of the city authorities. The adoption of this draft will be a very important decision ahead of COP17. All activities will be aimed at developing environmentally friendly opportunities for accessible recreation in the gorge, allowing visitors to connect with nature while minimizing the impact on biodiversity and ecosystem processes,” Sirarpi Haykazyan said.

Regarding cleanup work in the gorge, the Head of the Environmental Protection Department emphasized that many days throughout the year are devoted to carrying out these activities. She added that the work planned for Hrazdan Gorge over the next year includes maintaining its current condition, implementing short-term programs until the management plan is adopted, and defining zoning areas.