Category: News

Robert Amsterdam, an international human rights defender and a member of the legal team of the leader of the “Strong Armenia” party Samvel Karapetyan, will file a lawsuit against the NA Vice Speaker Ruben Rubinyan if he does not deny what he said. The human rights defender wrote about it on his Facebook page.

CP member Rubinyan stated earlier that Robert Amsterdam had contact with financier Jeffrey Epstein and provided him with legal services.
“Ruben Rubinyan, you are a liar who has lost his human form. I never worked with Epstein and I never gave him any advice. If you do not immediately and publicly deny this blatant lie, I will file a lawsuit against you demanding $10 million in damages,” Amsterdam wrote.
To remind, financier Jeffrey Epstein was arrested in 2006 on suspicion of involving minors in prostitution. In 2019, he was charged with criminal conspiracy to traffic and sexually exploit minors, which carries a sentence of up to 45 years in prison. Prosecutors allege that between 2002 and 2005, Epstein had sex with dozens of underage girls at his residences in New York and Florida, paid them money, and recruited some of them to recruit new victims. Some of the victims were younger than 14 years old.

In August 2019, Epstein’s body was found in the prison cell where he was awaiting trial. Epstein’s death was officially ruled a suicide, but conspiracy theories continue to circulate in the media, including because of gaps in released body camera footage.
In January 2026, the US Department of Justice released the files of Jeffrey Epstein’s criminal case (about 3 million pages), after which there was a great uproar, because the names of a number of famous people were touched in them.

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According to the information of “Pastinfo”, masked persons broke into the house of Martun Grigoryan, a member of the National Assembly from Gyumri, early this morning around 07:30.

As it is already known, Martun Grigoryan in 2026 participates in the parliamentary elections with PAP and yesterday PAP chairman Gagik Tsarukyan had quite successful meetings in Shirak within the framework of the campaign.

Note that M. Grigoryan has a large electorate in Gyumri, which was also evidenced by the results of the extraordinary election of the Gyumri Council of Elders, where the CP lost and the opposition managed to unite and take over the administration of Gyumri.

Moreover, according to our information, M. A decision has already been made to arrest one person from Grigoryan’s team.

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According to the report about the apparent crime received by the RA Investigative Committee, AA posted a clip on Facebook with an accompanying note on May 21: “People, they are handing over a position secretly from you, listen to the words of this volunteer, meanwhile, the Minister of Defense is campaigning with hearts”, where the latter and another person are talking about handing over the combat position located in the direction of Jermuk city to Azerbaijan.

On the same day, the RA Ministry of Defense officially denied the information provided by AA and that person.

On the basis of the received report, criminal proceedings were initiated with features of perjury and organizing perjury.

The preliminary investigation revealed the identity of the person speaking in the given video, whose face is covered, who was on combat duty in combat position N.

During the interrogation, the latter denied the information about handing over any position, at the same time stating that, being in an inebriated state, he participated in the gathering organized by NK, where he met AA, who, being informed about his social problems, immediately organized the interview with the journalist. He stated that he was in an inebriated state and gave false information.

Notice: the person accused of a crime is considered innocent until his guilt is proven in accordance with the procedure established by the Code of Criminal Procedure by a legally binding court verdict.

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“Suren Papikyan, can you explain why you didn’t die? Can you explain why 15 of our soldiers who died in a fire in the shelter died?” Arman Tatoyan, candidate for Prime Minister of the “Wings of Unity” party, said about this in a conversation with journalists today, referring to the course of the pre-election campaign.

Arman Tatoyan mentioned that there is a need to summarize the pre-election campaign of these two weeks and the shameful situation that has been created. According to his assessment, an atmosphere of fear and hatred has been created, it seems that there is a race for resources from all sides. And against this background, according to him, it turns out that a person has to make a choice in favor of foreign powers: Moscow, Brussels, Baku, Washington. According to Tatoyan, no one is talking about what Armenia needs, what the elections in Armenia should be like.

Arman Tatoyan believes that the authorities have become masters of fear-mongering and spreading hatred and deception.

According to him, the authorities are trying to position themselves as defenders of democracy and human rights, but such a scheme has been created that spreads fear among people, spreads threats, both personal and the threat of war.

According to Tatoyan, that situation is constantly being developed and maintained, because the entire campaign is based on it, and it has spread throughout the country.

“Instead of being more united, everything is based on division and enmity,” emphasized the politician.

Tatoyan also mentioned that all this is happening under the veil of democracy. He recalled the controversial recording he released last week.

“I clearly showed that there is a scheme, using the example of the Armavir State Regional College, we showed that students and professors who are compliant, at a high level, are being forced to go to the pre-election gatherings of the government. And what, until now nothing, no reaction, I mentioned specific names, we presented it with a report about the crime,” said Arman Tatoyan.

In his assessment, law enforcement bodies work in sync with the government.

According to the politician, this government has turned death into a cult, they are talking about the recent deaths of soldiers and people, they are saying, “Why didn’t you die during the war?”

“How can the RA Prime Minister be happy or say: justify why you were not killed? On the contrary, shouldn’t he be happy that people were not killed, they remained alive, everyone’s life is valuable. And the Minister of Defense, look what he is doing, behaving like a puppy, speaking with “Ara” and saying on live TV: justify why you were not killed.

Can you explain why you didn’t die? Can you explain why 15 of our soldiers who died as a result of a fire in the shelter died? They died because of the minister appointed by the prime minister, Suren Papikyan, and also because of the commanders chosen by him. If you are the Minister of Defense, the function of the minister is to organize the war in such a way that as few people as possible are killed, not to rejoice or say, “Why weren’t you killed?” During Stalin’s time, people returning from the front took people for questioning and punishment, this is the same Stalinism,” Tatoyan expressed this opinion.

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“For me, there is no question of enclaves, there is a question of the security of my country, the security of my people,” Arman Tatoyan, the prime ministerial candidate of the Unity Wings party, said about this in a conversation with journalists today, referring to the issue of enclaves, which is being actively discussed again these days.

He mentioned that for him the issue of enclaves does not exist. “There is no such question in me, I have the security of my country, the security of my people. I have been to all those places, Tavush marz, Tigranashen, many times, I know by heart what will happen there, if the government’s plan suddenly comes true and Azerbaijan occupies those so-called enclaves. We will have separate settlements.

For example, the station settlement, which is near the enclaves, passes by the buildings, shares the whole. The road going to Aygehovit, Vazashe will be closed completely, a full detour should be taken. We will have heights that will be occupied by the Azerbaijani armed forces and will control our villages. Without that, they are under the target, they will control people’s pastures, arable lands, grass floors, schools, houses, roads,” said Arman Tatoyan, continuing that there will be a total collapse of security. He noted that it is unnecessary to talk about gas pipes and Internet cables.

According to him, the government is deceiving and lying about the issue of Artsvashen.

“Nobody is giving up Artsvashen, but if you compare Artsvashen in terms of security and the territories that they intend to give to Azerbaijan, it is obvious from the speech, they are absolutely incomparable,” said Arman Tatoyan.

Details in the 168TV video.

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On May 21, Alik Aleksanyan representing the “Strong Armenia” party stated that an army position was secretly surrendered to the RA Armed Forces in the Jermuk sector, referring to the claim of a volunteer.

Later, the RA Ministry of Defense denied this claim, stating:

“In a video shared by one of the members of the “Strong Armenia” party, an unknown person falsely reports that a military position of the RA armed forces “surrendered” in the Jermuk sector.
We declare that the mentioned is misinformation.
We urge the law enforcement agencies to study the mentioned video and the information contained in it in order to make a legal assessment.”

Today, the RA Investigative Committee message is distributed, where it is noted.

“According to the report about the apparent crime received by the RA Investigative Committee, A.A. posted a clip on Facebook with an attached note on May 21: “People, they are handing over a position secretly from you, listen to the words of this volunteer, during this time the Minister of Defense is campaigning with hearts”, where the latter and another person talk about handing over the combat position located in the direction of Jermuk city to Azerbaijan.

On the same day, the RA Ministry of Defense officially denied the information provided by AA and that person.

On the basis of the received report, criminal proceedings were initiated with features of perjury and organizing perjury.

The preliminary investigation revealed the identity of the person speaking in the given video, whose face is covered, who was on combat duty in combat position N.

During the interrogation, the latter denied the information about handing over any position, at the same time stating that, being in an inebriated state, he participated in the gathering organized by NK, where he met AA, who, being informed about his social problems, immediately organized the interview with the journalist.

He stated that he was in an inebriated state and gave false information.”

Let’s leave to what extent who is right or wrong, but another episode caught our attention. The RA Investigative Committee actually declares that the person who was in an inebriated state performed combat duty.

I wonder if the person in a state of inebriation was one of the land guards led by Sasun Mikayelyan, or a participant in a training camp, and regardless of that, a shameful image of combat duty is obtained.

By the way, we tried to get an answer to this question from the RA Investigative Committee, but they told us that they are not aware, and we should take what is written in the message as a basis, but here it is only mentioned about a person who performed combat duty while intoxicated, it is not clear whether he is a part of the training camp or a national guard.

Later, it was possible to find out from our sources that we are talking about the militia, which is used as needed, and in connection with which information about salary cuts appears in the press from time to time.

And the fact that in the above mentioned case we are dealing with a person who was on combat duty in an inebriated state, that is also RA Defense Minister Suren Papikyan confirm

In this context, let’s remind that he was drafted in the training camp in March of this year ձերբակալվել՝ within the framework of the criminal proceedings initiated in connection with the injury of conscripted reservists in the training camp.

Earlier, information was spread in the mass media that 3 reservists were stabbed to death in Vardenis.

It should be noted that at the end of 2025, RA Defense Minister Suren Papikyan announced that: “if in 2025 16,000 reservists participated in the training sessions, then in 2026 it is planned that the number of reservists participating in the training sessions will be 20,000 on average»:

Let us add that a system of territorial defense and local self-defense was formed, which, as Suren Papikyan was to report implies a permanent structure, starting from the company ring to the command staff, where there are permanent staff positions and employees.

“Their function is to receive the reservists during training sessions, train them and ensure integration during combat duty.” he elaborated, adding that the training sessions are also meant to clarify what the reservists should deal with in case of possible problems and how to protect the border of our country.

Regardless of who we are talking about: a country guard, a participant in a training camp, or a militia deployed as needed, this once again proves that there is a problem with increasing the quality of combat duty and discipline, and one cannot entrust a position to random persons, which we are alerting for years.

Maybe this is not a good day, so to speak, but in this case, is it justified to shorten the period of mandatory military service, and is it possible to talk about a professional army?

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“LUYS” fund analyzed the 2026 the implementation report of the RA state budget in the first quarter.

Thus.

• 2026 in the first quarter, the total revenues of the state budget amounted to 668.5 billion drams, 5.2% more than the indicator of the quarterly specified plan. The overperformance of the program indicator was mainly supported by “tax revenues” and “other revenues”, while chronic underperformance continues to be recorded in terms of official grants, which indicates shortcomings in the areas of cooperation with donor organizations and the fulfillment of previously assumed obligations.

Accumulation of significant volumes of temporary free funds of the budget (increase in interest income from their bank placement) was recorded, which is mainly a consequence of the continuous underperformance of expenditures on the most important programs and indicates the ineffectiveness of the budget policy. 

• 2026 in the first quarter, the actual total expenditures of the RA state budget, 603.3 billion drams, are 29.6% or 254.2 billion drams less than planned in the quarterly revised plan. 46% (116.8 billion drams) of the shortfall in expenses is related to current expenses, and 54% (137.4 billion drams) is related to operations with non-financial assets. At the expense of internal sources, the quarterly program of financing the state budget was underachieved by 28.7%. The picture is more bleak in terms of financing the state budget at the expense of external sources. this time again (as in the same period of last year) the share of spending on the account of external sources was extremely low: only 0.7% of budget expenditures, or 4.3 billion drams, were financed from external sources, which is about four times lower than the indicator of the quarterly adjusted plan, and about 2.3 times less than the actual size of the same period of the previous year.

The current expenditures of the state budget, 560.9 billion drams, were underachieved by 17.2% compared to the specified plan. In this reporting period, all their components were also underperformed.

Expenditures on non-financial assets (capital expenditures) decreased significantly compared to the same period of the previous year by 43.4%, and were underachieved by more than four times compared to the quarterly specified plan, mainly due to the underachievement of capital expenditures of the RA Ministry of Defense. In the case of capital expenditures, underperformance also applies to all cost components.

A significant part of the under-execution of expenses is related to the programs implemented under the responsibility of the Ministries of Defense, KGMS and Labor and Social Affairs. Performance (in percentage terms) is the lowest for programs under the responsibility of the Ministries of Defence, Ministry of Defense and Security, 39.9%, 62.7% and 65.6%, respectively.

Shortcomings in many of the programs are chronic, which means that the current government is simply not able to ensure the effective implementation of a number of important programs (“Development of the military-industrial complex”, “Implementation of the digital transformation process”, “Tourism development”, “Establishment, construction, improvement of public educational and pre-school institutions”, etc.), in the event that the current government’s 2021-2026 budget is determined by them. providing a significant part of the targets defined by the activity plan. 

• Q:The state budget of 2026 in the first quarter, a surplus of 65.2 billion drams was made, against the planned deficit of 221.8 billion drams. In other words, the deviation of the implementation of the state budget from the plan is 287 billion drams. The formation of the surplus is mainly caused by a significant underperformance of costs.

Low budget performance limits the impact of government programs on economic activity and infrastructure development and is the best indicator of low efficiency of the current government.

The full analysis is available at: by reference

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Iveta Tonoyan writes: “The reason becomes clear…

It is obvious that the campaign against PAP has nothing to do with any legal or judicial process. This is an exclusively political action, the main purpose of which is to create an atmosphere of fear, to limit the activity of the opposition forces, and a clear attempt to destroy the normal election campaign.

Today, the results of sociological polls published by the international “Gallup” organization reveal the real motive of the government’s actions. The 4 opposition political forces have a significant advantage to form a new government.

It is this reality that panicked Nikol Pashinyan and forced him to try to stop the growing support of the opposition by way of another political persecution.

In fact, Andranik Tevanyan and Martun Grigoryan became the victims not of any “accusation”, but of the data of this sociological survey. And these numbers are another proof of Nikol Pashinyan’s nervousness and political imbalance.

Dear compatriots, “Prosperous Armenia” party will never deviate from its adopted political path. We will continue our struggle for a dignified, safe and strong Armenia.

We will continue the quiet, restrained program campaign, the open and sincere dialogue with our people.

We are sure that no matter how much the authorities try to carry out new pressures, provocations and persecutions until the end of the campaign, our people will make their dignified and correct choice on June 7. And with that election, this government will receive a clear political assessment of the people.”

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Vyacheslav Volodin, the chairman of the Russian State Duma, joined the almost daily critical statements from Moscow to Yerevan. Volodin stated that Nikol Pashinyan is taking advantage of the opportunities provided by Russia, while making unfriendly political decisions towards Russia.

“According to the deputies of the State Duma, Pashinyan conducts an unfriendly policy towards the Russian Federation, cynically using the opportunities provided by our country,” wrote Volodin on the Russian Max channel, asserting that “this is dishonest and, as the example of Ukraine shows, will not lead to anything good.” A high-ranking Russian official insisted that Moscow should make a decision.

“We can no longer remain silent about the processes taking place in Armenia,” Volodin wrote, again mentioning the law passed by the Armenian parliament last year on starting the process of joining the European Union and Armenia’s membership in the International Criminal Court.

Two days ago, a discussion of a special working group on the issue of Armenia was organized in the Russian Security Council, where Secretary Sergey Shoigu made rather harsh statements, calling the steps taken by the Armenian leadership “incompatible with the spirit of allied relations with Russia”, emphasizing Armenia’s European aspirations among them. However, the RA authorities are sure that Moscow will not take drastic actions, it does not have such a toolkit, and the Armenian-Russian cooperation is mutually beneficial, that is, it is also in the interests of the Russian Federation. Nikol Pashinyan announced today.

“I understand that the number of people who want to cause a crisis in RA-Russian relations is quite large, but as I said, we will not argue with Russia, we will not fight. Russia is a superpower that should be treated with respect, and we treat it with respect.”

He emphasized again that they have no desire to leave the EAEU, and only Armenia can raise this issue in the EAEU.

He also said that they treat the interests of the Russian Federation with respect and do not resort to actions against the interests of the Russian Federation. Pashinyan said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is the head of the state, why shouldn’t he come to Armenia? According to him, Zelensky came to Armenia in the same way that the president of Azerbaijan visited Russia during the conflict with Azerbaijan.

The head of “Rosselkhoznadzor” Sergey Dankwert announced on the air of “Vesti” that he is recording problems related to the supply of not only flowers, but also fruits and vegetables from Armenia. “The problem is that we have problems not only with flowers, but also with vegetables and fruits,” Dankwert said. The Russian official noted that inspections in Armenian enterprises will continue for another week.

“We will make a decision based on the results of those inspections,” added the head of the service.

“The ban will remain in force until the inspection of the greenhouses is completed and the results are analyzed. Despite the guarantees given by the Food Safety Inspectorate of Armenia, 135 cases of violations of the established phytosanitary rules were registered among the 96.2 million flowers imported to Russia in the first months of this year. This is 77% of the total number of cases detected in 2025,” he emphasized.

The Armenian side reported yesterday that a group of Russian specialists arrived in Yerevan for phytosanitary inspections.

To remind, “Rosselkhoznadzor” has temporarily limited the import of flower products from Armenia since May 22. Today, during his press conference, Pashinyan also addressed this issue, describing them as work problems that happen many times during the year, and they themselves raise these issues on EAEU platforms.

The sharp tightening of public rhetoric between Moscow and Yerevan, which is expressed by direct warnings from the Russian Federation, indicates that the “status quo” in Armenian-Russian relations has run out.

Russia is no longer ready to tolerate the “geopolitical diversification” of Yerevan, when Armenia tries to get closer to the West politically and institutionally, but at the same time preserve and consume the economic benefits of EAEU. Yerevan is convinced that Moscow does not have sufficient tools, and Moscow seems to consider that Armenia’s dependence on Russia is fatal. However, it is certain that the restrictions on the import of agricultural products and flowers by “Rosselkhoznadzor” are not ordinary work problems, but the first economic blows. The “phytosanitary war” seems to indicate the first stage of Russia’s pressure tools.

If the RA authorities try to continue this policy, they should most likely prepare for Moscow’s gradual but consistent use of economic and energy levers.

Russia could artificially paralyze Armenian exports at the Lars checkpoint, limit lucrative re-export schemes and revise energy tariffs, which would short-term hit Armenia’s economic growth and unleash domestic social discontent, even though Pashinyan insists that agreements are in place and cannot be broken.

Nikol Pashinyan’s assurances that Armenia respects the interests of the Russian Federation and is not going to leave the EAEU seem to be perceived in Moscow as tactical maneuvers, as they do not correspond to de facto political steps.

Volodin’s open reference to the example of Ukraine is a signal that Russia is ready to use tools to break the foreign policy course adopted by Yerevan or to put pressure on the government. Moscow is creating a situation where the continuation and privileges of economic cooperation within the framework of the EAEU will be directly conditioned by political loyalty. Russia is creating a situation where Yerevan’s space to maneuver narrows, and RA enters the stage of economic confrontation.

If the Armenian authorities fail to get tangible guarantees from the West, the Russian opposition threatens to mix the economic and political playing cards.

The model of building one’s own economic success on the Russian market and the political future on European hopes does not seem to be working.

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