Category: News

Armenia will withdraw its claims against Azerbaijan before international bodies after the final signing of a peace treaty with Azerbaijan.

Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister Lilit Makunts made the statement at a joint meeting of the National Assembly’s standing committees.

“The Republic of Armenia will never renounce defending its interests before any international body. As for the existing disputes between Armenia and Azerbaijan, a decision may, of course, be taken within the logic of the peace process to withdraw claims against each other, but only if the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan definitively sign a peace treaty,” Makunts said.

Article 15 of the initialled peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan states:

“Within one month of the entry into force of this Agreement, the Parties shall withdraw, dismiss or otherwise resolve any and all inter-State claims, complaints, protests, objections, proceedings and disputes brought before any legal forum concerning issues that existed between the Parties prior to the signing of this Agreement. They shall not initiate such claims, complaints, protests, objections or proceedings, nor shall they become involved in any way in complaints, protests, objections or proceedings brought by any third party against the other Party.”

Armenia’s Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Zhanna Andreasyan will travel to the Principality of Monaco on 3 November for a two-day visit to attend the 19th Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Sport.

The Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport announced the visit.

The minister will also attend the plenary meeting of the Consultative Committee of the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport, as well as other related events.

Tigran Simonyan has been appointed Armenia’s Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport by a decision of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

The decision was published on e-gov.am.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has arrived in Brussels on a working visit.

The Prime Minister’s Office said Pashinyan would attend the EU Enlargement Summit 2026, organised by Euronews under the theme “The future of Europe”.

Bilateral meetings with foreign counterparts are also planned during the visit.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković during his working visit to Brussels, Armenpress’s correspondent in Brussels reports.

They discussed the further development of Armenia–Croatia and EU–Armenia relations.

The discussions also focused on trade and economic cooperation between Armenia and Croatia and the progress of democratic reforms in Armenia.

Pashinyan and Plenković stressed the importance of the declaration on strategic dialogue between Armenia and Croatia.

A meeting between the Armenian Prime Minister and European Parliament President Roberta Metsola has begun in Brussels, Armenpress’s correspondent in Brussels reports.

Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Ararat Mirzoyan is also attending the meeting.

The Armenian Prime Minister arrived in Brussels on a working visit on 3 November to attend the EU Enlargement Summit 2026, organised by Euronews.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met Gert Jan Koopman, Director-General for Enlargement and Eastern Neighbourhood at the European Commission, in Brussels.

The Prime Minister’s Office said they discussed Armenia–European Union relations and progress on joint programmes.

The two sides reviewed the outcomes of discussions and agreements reached during their recent meeting in Yerevan.

They exchanged views on prospects for cooperation in the economy, energy and other areas.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said he saw signs that there might be strong political will within the European Union for enlargement, meaning Armenia’s and the EU’s expectations could align.

Pashinyan was speaking at the EU Enlargement Summit 2026, organised by Euronews, in response to a question about where Armenia currently stood on the path towards possible EU membership.

“In March 2025, we adopted a law on launching the process of joining the European Union, and that law is now in force in Armenia. Our initial intention was to create an alternative for Armenia and the Armenian people because, traditionally, the perception in our society and perhaps in our neighbourhood has been that Armenia has no alternative. It is a very difficult and rather uncomfortable situation when there is a general perception that someone has no alternative. So our first goal is to create an alternative for our country and our people.

“But, you know, we have recently been hearing some good news from the EU. Before that, there was uncertainty over whether the European Union wanted to enlarge, but now we see certain signs that there may be strong political will within the EU for enlargement, which means Armenia’s and the European Union’s expectations could align. That is my assessment of the current situation,” the Armenian Prime Minister said.

He added that there was another reason for the decision to move towards the European Union.

“Our policy towards Europe is also very important because we want to protect our democracy, deepen our democratic reforms and make our democracy sustainable and institutionalised,” he said.

Pashinyan stressed that throughout Armenia’s independence, the EU had been one of its main partners in implementing its democratic reform agenda.

“If you are a democratic country, you want to be in a democratic club because there are many things to discuss, learn, decide and share,” he said.

Asked when Armenia intended to apply for EU membership, Pashinyan replied: “That is a very good question, and we were discussing it with our European partners today. We have also discussed this possibility internally. It is very important to us that we do not simply take a technical step and say that we have pressed the ‘send’ button and submitted the application. It is very important that this entire process is accompanied by political dialogue on this important issue. Of course, we are interested in these discussions. Our cooperation with the European Union has been deepening over recent years, and that is very good. And, to be honest, I have no doubt that the time will come, and it is not far off.”

Asked about a possible timeframe for Armenia to submit an EU membership application, the Prime Minister said:

“I think next year could be realistic, and 2028 could also be realistic. But we are currently focused on the visa liberalisation dialogue. Our target is to achieve visa liberalisation in 2029. That would be another very important milestone in the development of our relations with the European Union. We can say that we have now begun a process that will lead us to a final decision to apply for full membership of the European Union. It is very important that both Armenian and European officials agree on one very important point: relations between Armenia and the European Union are at their highest level ever.”

Speaker of Armenia’s National Assembly Ruben Rubinyan received Eduardo Villegas Megías, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United Mexican States to Armenia.

The National Assembly said the meeting focused on developing bilateral relations and expanding cooperation between Armenia and Mexico.

The two sides also discussed opportunities to deepen interparliamentary cooperation, stressing the importance of strengthening ties and exchanging experience between the two countries’ parliaments.

They also exchanged views on other issues of mutual interest.

Armenia’s Central Bank cannot provide precise calculations of the impact of a possible increase in natural gas prices on the country’s economy and living standards without complete information, Governor Martin Galstyan said at a press conference on 3 November.

“As regards gas prices, developing a scenario requires specific parameters: the size of the price change, the channels through which it would have an impact, the mechanisms through which policy tools would interact, and so on. We do not have this information, so I think it is premature to construct any scenario on this issue. We have, however, discussed it and carried out some sensitivity analysis to establish what would happen if gas prices rose by, for example, 10 per cent. Our assessment is that this would have both a direct and an indirect impact on our consumer price index. The direct impact would lead to a corresponding increase in the prices of gas-related goods, with a 10 per cent rise in gas prices generating 0.6 per cent inflation in this segment. In related industries that use gas to produce finished products, prices would rise by a further 0.1–0.2 per cent. In other words, according to our expert sensitivity assessments, a 10 per cent increase in gas prices could result in inflation of approximately 0.8 per cent or more. It is important to note that, without information, we cannot determine whether this increase would be linear. Developments will depend on the scenario that materialises,” Galstyan said.

Asked by a journalist how much inflation would result if gas prices rose by 69 per cent, as mentioned in discussions, rather than 10 per cent, Galstyan replied:

“We have not made calculations using that figure. It was not of interest to us because the substantive report underpinning that calculation contained no policy response element. In other words, if prices are going to rise that much, the relevant Armenian authorities would be expected to implement some policy to counteract the increase so that it is not passed on to people or the economy in the same way. We did not see that element, so at this stage we have carried out some sensitivity analysis. Once the situation is clear, we will incorporate it into our models and determine how to respond.”