Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin held a telephone conversation, according to a statement issued by the Russian government’s press service.

The statement said the conversation took place at the initiative of the Armenian side.

“The heads of government discussed current issues related to Armenian-Russian cooperation in the fields of trade and the economy, science, technology, and culture and humanitarian affairs,” the statement said.

Armenian National Assembly Vice Speaker Ruben Rubinyan received a delegation led by Johannes Volkmann, Chair of the Subcommittee on Crisis Prevention, Strategic Foresight, Stabilisation and Peacebuilding of the German Bundestag and a member of its Committee on Foreign Affairs, on July 1.

According to a statement issued by the National Assembly’s Public Relations and Communication Department, Rubinyan welcomed the delegation and underscored Armenia’s aspiration to deepen relations with the European Union, highly valuing Armenia-Germany cooperation in that context.

The National Assembly vice speaker also answered questions from members of the delegation, addressing the results of the parliamentary elections, as well as the parliament’s future work and plans.

The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 1 July, USD exchange rate up by 0.16 drams to 368.05 drams. EUR exchange rate stood at 419.47 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.0011 drams to 4.7071 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 0.83 drams to 487.7 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price up by 16 drams to 47641 drams.

Armenia’s Constitutional Court has retired to the deliberation room to issue a ruling on a case seeking to invalidate the results of the parliamentary elections held on June 7.

Seven political forces that participated in the parliamentary elections — the Strong Armenia Alliance, the Armenia Alliance, the Prosperous Armenia Party, the Wings of Unity Party, the Democracy, Law and Discipline Party, the New Force Party and the For the Republic Party — petitioned the Constitutional Court, challenging the election results and requesting that they be declared invalid. The court began hearing the case on June 26.

The ruling Civil Contract party joined the proceedings as a third party, while the Central Election Commission, the Prosecutor’s Office, the Anti-Corruption Committee and the Ministry of Internal Affairs were involved as respondents.

The Constitutional Court’s deadline for publishing its ruling is July 4.

According to the results of the June 7 parliamentary elections, the Civil Contract party, which secured a parliamentary majority and will form the next government, as well as the Strong Armenia Alliance and the Armenia Alliance, won seats in parliament. Civil Contract will hold 64 seats in the new parliament, the Strong Armenia Alliance 29 seats and the Armenia Alliance 12 seats.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has arrived in Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku.

The European Commission president announced her arrival in a post on X.

“Touchdown in Baku.

The EU believes in a bright future for the South Caucasus: connected, peaceful and prosperous.

We want to help build that future.

I’m also here to deepen the EU-Azerbaijan partnership.

From trade to transport. From energy to the economy.”

The European Commission president is also due to pay a working visit to Armenia on July 2.

As part of the visit, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will hold a meeting.

Following the meeting, they will make statements and answer questions from media representatives.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in Baku that the European Union plans to deepen its partnership with Azerbaijan across a number of key areas. She made the remarks in a post on X.

“The EU believes in a bright future for the South Caucasus: peaceful and prosperous.

We want to help build that future.

I’m also here to deepen the EU-Azerbaijan partnership.

From trade to transport. From energy to the economy.”

The European Commission president arrived in Azerbaijan on a working visit on July 1, where she is scheduled to hold talks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

On July 2, von der Leyen will travel to Armenia, where she is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has announced that the European Union plans to invest up to €200 million in grants across the South Caucasus to support the development of transport, energy and digital connectivity. She made the announcement during a meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Baku.

Congratulating Aliyev on the conclusion of what she described as a historic peace agreement with Armenia, von der Leyen said he had demonstrated personal leadership in promoting peace and cooperation in the region, creating new opportunities for stability, trust and shared prosperity.

She stressed that the European Union firmly supports and will continue to support this process.

“Together, we can truly turn peace on paper into peace in practice. This brings me to my first point today. We want to foster peace through connectivity. We have a Global Gateway investment package under which we will invest up to €200 million in grants across the South Caucasus for transport, energy and digital connectivity. This has the potential to leverage up to €2 billion in public and private investment. Projects could include, for example, a railway connection through Nakhchivan and the development of the Port of Baku,” she said.

Aliyev said his talks with the European Commission president had focused primarily on regional security issues, particularly the process of normalising relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which he said was progressing successfully.

He recalled that Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a joint declaration in Washington last August in the presence of U.S. President Donald Trump, who signed the document as a witness. According to Aliyev, peace has therefore effectively been established, and its results are already evident.

The Azerbaijani president said one manifestation of peace was the removal of all restrictions on the transit of goods to Armenia through Azerbaijani territory.

“So now peace is a reality, but we have to work hard to strengthen it and make it lasting and eternal,” he said.

Aliyev also praised the European Commission’s support, saying any assistance that strengthens momentum in the region would help transform the South Caucasus into a region free of territorial claims and conflict, based on partnership, cooperation and peace.

Von der Leyen is scheduled to visit Armenia on July 2 for a meeting with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan received Canadian Ambassador to Armenia Andrew Turner.

According to a statement issued by the President’s Office, Khachaturyan congratulated the ambassador on Canada’s National Day and asked him to convey his warm wishes to Canada’s leadership and the friendly people of Canada.

Welcoming the ambassador, the president said Armenia-Canada relations have developed positively in recent years. He thanked Canada for its consistent support for Armenia, stressing that assistance aimed at strengthening the country’s independence and sovereignty is of great importance to Armenia’s security and development.

“Our relations have developed very dynamically in recent years. I believe this is also due to the fact that the Republic of Armenia has consistently pursued a policy of developing the country along a democratic path.

Canada is, in fact, one of the countries in the world that has consistently supported democracy and, conversely, has always taken a critical stance toward countries that have pursued anti-democratic policies and sought to establish authoritarian systems.

I am confident that our continued cooperation will create new opportunities and avenues for collaboration between our countries,” the president said.

President Khachaturyan also highly appreciated Canada’s support for Armenia amid regional challenges, as well as its participation in the European Union Mission in Armenia (EUMA), describing it as an important contribution to strengthening peace and stability in the region.

Ambassador Andrew Turner thanked the president for the reception and congratulations, reaffirming Canada’s readiness to continue supporting Armenia’s peace agenda and democratic reforms.

During the meeting, the sides discussed a range of issues on the bilateral agenda, highlighting the importance of the continued development of political dialogue, the expansion of economic and trade ties, and deeper cooperation in the high-tech sector.

The parties also underscored the importance of advancing parliamentary cooperation and applying Canadian best practices, particularly in justice sector reforms and in the development and consolidation of democratic institutions.

The interlocutors also discussed opportunities to expand cultural cooperation.

Personnel changes have been made in the Armenian Armed Forces, with new commanders appointed to army corps positions.

Based on the recommendations of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, President Vahagn Khachaturyan signed decrees under which:

Major General Garegin Poghosyan was appointed commander of the Special Army Corps, relieved of his duties as commander of the 2nd Army Corps.

Major General Simon Nazaryan was appointed commander of the 2nd Army Corps, relieved of his duties as commander of the 3rd Army Corps.

Colonel Artsrun Hovhannisyan was appointed head of the National Defence Research University of the Ministry of Defence.

Armenian Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Zhanna Andreasyan received the newly appointed Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt to Armenia, Amal Afifi.

According to the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport, the meeting was also attended by Deputy Minister Artur Martirosyan, President of the Egyptian University and Professor of Armenian Studies Mohamed Refaat Al-Imam, as well as Egyptian writer, novelist, television presenter and academic Dr. Safaa El-Naggar.

Minister Andreasyan congratulated Ambassador Afifi on her appointment and wished her a successful diplomatic mission. She expressed confidence that the ambassador’s work would contribute to the further development of Armenia-Egypt interstate relations and the implementation of new initiatives, particularly in the fields of education, science, culture and youth.

Ambassador Afifi thanked the minister for the reception and expressed her readiness to make every effort to further strengthen cooperation, particularly in the cultural sphere. In this context, she presented the programme of events planned to be held in Egypt in the near future.

Andreasyan also highlighted the activities of the Egyptian intellectuals accompanying the delegation, describing stronger ties with them as an important opportunity to deepen friendship between the two peoples. In this regard, she highly praised Professor Mohamed Refaat Al-Imam’s longstanding contribution to Armenian studies and to the research and promotion of the history of Armenia and the Armenian community in Egypt, noting that his scholarly work has made an important contribution to strengthening the cultural dialogue between Armenia and Egypt.

For many years, Mohamed Refaat Al-Imam has supported the activities of the Centre for Armenian Studies at Cairo University and served as editor-in-chief of the Arabic-language Armenian studies journal AREG, which has played a significant role in promoting knowledge about Armenians among Arabic-speaking readers.

Writer, novelist, Egyptian television presenter and academic Dr. Safaa El-Naggar also presented her work.

The sides noted that they could also cooperate within the framework of the International Book Festival through the implementation of translation programmes.

The meeting also addressed other issues of mutual interest.