Veronika Zonabend, the wife of Ruben Vardanyan, who is being held in Azerbaijan, has announced the start of a new initiative, which envisages the visit of an international humanitarian delegation of women to Baku to support the Armenian detainees there.

In her official statement, Veronika Zonabend emphasized that this initiative is free from political context and is exclusively humanitarian in nature. The main goal of the mission is to restore at least minimal contact between the detained persons and their families. He noted that after the closing of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) office in Azerbaijan, relatives were actually deprived of independent and regular humanitarian channels.

They are currently in prison in Azerbaijan Ruben Vardanyan and eighteen more Armenians. The author of the initiative reminded that some of them have not had any contact with their families for years, and international human rights protection mechanisms and state structures do not provide practical results in terms of ensuring contact.

As part of the preparation of the visit, Zonabend appealed to the Ombudsman of Azerbaijan, Sabina Aliyeva. He requested the support of the human rights defender to organize official meetings, to provide access to the “Umbak” penal complex, as well as to provide an opportunity to deliver parcels, letters and photos to the detainees as permitted by law.

Over the next two weeks, the organizers are collecting letters of support and photos to deliver them to Baku. Words of support can be sent to the e-mail address [email protected] by specifying “Letter of Support – Armenian Detainees” in the subject field of the letter and, if necessary, adding the name of the specific addressee. The names of the persons included in the international delegation will be published additionally.

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Tehran emphasizes Washington’s responsibility in the implementation of the US-Iranian peace memorandum to be signed in Switzerland on June 19, while demanding an immediate end to Israel’s military operations in Lebanon.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran Abbas Araghchi During the telephone conversations with his counterparts in Turkey, Iraq and Egypt, he emphasized that the success and implementation of the future agreement largely depends on the United States. According to the Foreign Ministry of Iran, the most important precondition for restoring stability in the region is the complete cessation of Israeli aggression and destabilizing attacks against the Lebanese territory.

Earlier, the United States and Iran officially confirmed the achievement of the agreement to sign a memorandum of understanding on the establishment of peace aimed at a comprehensive settlement. According to Iran’s chief diplomat, one of the fundamental points of the document to be signed in Switzerland implies the immediate cessation of military operations in all directions, including the Lebanese front.

Despite diplomatic exchanges between Washington and Tehran, Israel’s leadership has announced its refusal to withdraw troops from South Lebanon.

The escalation of rhetoric continues. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz issued a stern counter-warning, stressing that in case of any attack by Iran under the pretext of the Lebanese conflict, the Israeli army will respond with all its military potential.

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From a legal point of view, the Central Electoral Commission of Armenia is obliged to appoint a re-voting in the two polling stations, the results of which were declared invalid. This is stated in the independent legal analysis published by Doctor of Legal Sciences Artur Ghambaryan.

The head of the Department of Legal Theory and Constitutional Law of the Armenian-Russian University initiated the preparation of the conclusion of the “Amicus Curiae” format in order to obtain an objective and political assessment of the situation surrounding the “Prosperous Armenia” party. The basis for the examination was the decision of the CEC, by which the results of precincts No. 10/51 of Nubarashen administrative district of Yerevan and No. 35/65 of Agarak community of Syunik marz were canceled.

As a result of invalidating the voting results, the political force lost a total of 213 votes. According to the legal analysis, this indicator is of crucial importance for the party to overcome the temporary threshold of four percent set by the law, which indicates the direct impact of the violations on the outcome of the elections.

The expert document emphasizes that the Electoral Code defines a clear mechanism.

The powers of the CEC are transformed into a direct obligation to appoint a re-voting in the presence of three conditions at the same time: the fact of violations, their impact on the results, and the possibility of correcting the situation by re-voting. Since the consequences of the recorded violations can be overcome by local re-voting in the mentioned two precincts, Professor Ghambaryan concludes that the Central Electoral Commission should officially record the need to hold new elections at the stage of summarizing the results.

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Former RA Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian strongly criticized the international perception of the last parliamentary elections, stating that the vote was not a geopolitical competition between the West and Russia, but a nationwide protest against the disintegration of Armenian statehood and new concessions.

In his statement published on social networks, the former foreign minister noted that foreign observers and the press superficially interpret the internal political crisis in the country, turning it into a simple struggle between the pro-Western government and the pro-Russian opposition. According to Oskanyan, such talk deeply misleads the international audience and distorts reality.

The former diplomat questioned the legitimacy of the elections, stressing that the official results do not reflect the true will of the citizens. He stated that the process was accompanied by administrative pressures, manipulations and an atmosphere of intimidation, as a result of which Nikol Pashinyan did not receive the vote of confidence of the Armenian people. Oskanyan emphasized that the pro-Western rhetoric of the authorities cannot be an excuse for electoral fraud and pressure on political opponents.

Referring to the external challenges, Vardan Oskanyan noticed that the Armenian society is aware of the dangers hidden under the process of “regulating” relations. According to him, the voters categorically reject the demands of Azerbaijan, the compulsion to change the Constitution of Armenia, further territorial concessions and the prospect of renouncing Artsakh’s heritage.

Summarizing his speech, the former minister noted that the real choice of the citizens was not the search for external sponsors, but the protection of sovereignty, constitutional order and national dignity under the conditions of the threat of forced capitulation.

According to the final data of the CEC, the “Civil Agreement” party, as well as the opposition “Hzor Armenia” and “Hazor Armenia” alliances, are entering the Armenian parliament based on the results of the June 7 elections.

According to these data, the “Civil Agreement” party collected 49.7% of the votes, the “Mighty Armenia” alliance – 23.27%, and the “Armenia” alliance (former president Robert Kocharyan – ed.) – 9.9%. The opposition “Prosperous Armenia” party received 3.989% of the votes and did not enter the parliament.

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The Finance, Credit and Budgetary Affairs Committee of the Armenian Parliament has approved the involvement of more than 112 million euros by the French Development Agency (AFD) and the European Union for the comprehensive modernization of the country’s water economy and agriculture.

As explained by the Deputy Chairman of the Water Committee Nvard Vardanyan, the main part of the financing is the multi-tranche credit line of 100 million euros provided by the French side. From this budget, 70 million euros will be directed to the WISE program implemented at the national level, and 30 million euros will be purposefully allocated to the programs planned in Syunik marz. In addition, the European Union will provide a grant of 12.4 million euros, which will serve for technical re-equipment and capacity building.

The need for such large-scale investments is dictated by the severe wear and tear of existing irrigation systems, large-scale water losses, and the growing risks posed by climate change. The framework agreement signed by the government in December 2025 paves the way for the launch of complex and phased reforms covering water resources management at both local and national levels.

The project is structurally divided into two main directions. The first is nationwide infrastructure investments, which will be co-financed by the World Bank. The second component is focused on Syunik. In the communities of Sisian, Goris and Meghri, it is planned to modernize pumping stations, develop gravity irrigation networks and introduce modern water reuse systems. It should be noted that the French Development Agency has been supporting infrastructure and environmental projects in Armenia since 2013.

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The Administrative Court of the Republic of Armenia satisfied the request of the General Prosecutor’s Office, recognizing as invalid the ownership rights of the National Olympic Committee of Armenia (NAOC) headed by the big businessman and politician Gagik Tsarukyan to the 225-hectare plot of land adjacent to the Tsaghkadzor cable car.

The area worth more than 36 billion drams was transferred to the sports structure in December 2005. Gagik Tsarukyan has been leading the NAOC without change since 2004, so for almost two decades this large infrastructure asset has actually been under the management of the structure headed by him. As a result of the court investigation, it was recorded that the expropriation of the property was carried out in violation of the requirements of the land legislation. The court ruled that at the time of allocating the site, the legal grounds for transferring the state property to the committee were actually absent.

After the judicial act enters into legal force, it is planned to officially return the plot to the state balance sheet. However, the legal process is not over yet. The representatives of the committee led by Tsarukyan do not agree with the decision and have already filed an appeal.

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Director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergey Naryshkin, emphasized the strategic importance of maintaining full neighborly relations with Armenia. This statement is made against the background of the rapprochement of Yerevan and European structures in the conditions of the recent cooling observed in the bilateral dialogue.

According to the head of the Russian department, the continuous development of cooperation in all key directions is of fundamental importance for Moscow. In particular, Naryshkin singled out the need to maintain close cooperation in the economic and humanitarian spheres, as well as emphasized the importance of maintaining military and military-technical ties.

Let’s remind that in recent months, Armenian-Russian relations have become somewhat strained, which Moscow attributes to the activation of the European vector of Armenia’s foreign policy. Earlier, the Russian side pointed out the incompatibility of integration into the structures of the European Union and membership of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU).

The practical manifestation of these differences became the restrictions applied to the export of a wide range of Armenian agricultural products, including vegetables, fruits, berries and flowers, to the Russian market from the end of May.

Despite emerging commercial and political contacts, the parties maintain diplomatic rhetoric at the highest level. RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan earlier announced the positive transformation of bilateral cooperation, and the President of Russia Vladimir Putin described the relations between the states as friendly.

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