On June 15, in Paris, Minister of Defense Suren Papikyan met with representatives of the French companies “KNDS” and “Airbus” and discussed a number of issues related to the course of cooperation.

It should be noted that in June 2024, a military-technical cooperation agreement was signed between the RA Ministry of Defense and the French military-industrial company KNDS in France, according to which Armenia acquired CAESAR self-propelled artillery stations from France.

In May of this year, during the visit of French President Macron to Armenia, it became known that the RA Defense Department signed a contract for the supply of transport helicopters with the Airbus helicopters company.

And these days, in order to participate in the international exhibition “Eurosatory 2026”, not only the leadership of the Ministry of Defense, but also the Ministry of High Technology went to France, in the context of which the leading French company “Thales” and the Armenian defense technology company “BooTech” announced the launch of an industrial partnership aimed at deepening strategic cooperation and strengthening regional security.

Under the agreement, BooTech will act as an industrial partner in combat management systems, digital infrastructure, cyber security and related areas. In other words, Thales will share its production experience and technologies, and BooTech will focus its efforts on system integration and network solutions.

“Thales Group” company is engaged in the design and construction of electrical systems, provides services in the aviation-space, defense, transport and security markets.

BooTech is an Armenian company that provides advanced C2/C4ISR digital solutions, integrating existing and next-generation systems into networked battlefield management platforms.

It is worth reminding here that the foundations of cooperation with the leading French and European technology company “THALES” were laid back in September 2018, when Armenian President Armen Sarkissian had meetings with the leadership of “Thales Group” during his visit to France, and in November 2018 he visited the company’s digital workshop and got acquainted with the activities and current programs, discussed issues related to possible directions of cooperation with Armenian companies.

Already in June 2019, Armen Sarkissian visited the “Thales Group” booth and met with the president of the company, Patrice Kane, as part of the Paris International Aviation Exhibition held in Le Bourget.

An agreement was reached here to organize the visit of representatives of “Thales Group” to Armenia, as well as to create working groups for the purpose of studying the already prepared relevant document on specific directions of cooperation.

In particular, cooperation and implementation of joint programs in the fields of artificial intelligence, digital data management and a number of other fields were considered promising.

And in September 2019, it was Armenia arrived the delegation of the technological leader company “Thales Group”. In other words, they thought about cooperation with this French company much earlier, and the former president of RA has a concrete role here, this must be said, however much we have reservations regarding various issues related to him, including the 44-day period and the period after that.

This does not at all belittle the negotiations of Defense Minister Suren Papikyan regarding cooperation with this company.

In 2023, the Defense Ministers of Armenia and France signed a deal in France regarding the sale of Thales GM 200 3 radars, of which, according to various reports, France also supplied Ukraine. According to our information, those radars were supplied to Armenia.

By the way, in 2025 we wrote, that the company supplying French radars to Armenia has joined NATO’s air defense program.

That is, the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) had signed an agreement not only with ASELSAN, Lockheed Martin UK, Raytheon, but also Airbus and «with Thales which is in the logic of the development process of the modular air defense system concept.

And Azerbaijan has been with the French company “Thales” for a long time համագործակցում՝ approximately from 2013-2014. Even in 2018 information it was circulated that it is possible to establish a production of “Thales” products in Azerbaijan. In 2023, there were news that “Thales” in Azerbaijan representation opens, here it was, of course, about cooperation in the direction of modernization of railway infrastructure in the “East-West” and “North-South” international transport “corridors”, because, as we mentioned above, “Thales Group” also provides services in the transport sector.

But this did not stop the Azerbaijani propaganda machine from seeing risks in the context of Armenia-France defense cooperation, including “Thales Group”-“BooTech”. In particular, Baku TV video analysis presented, where he states:

“As Thales is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of radar systems, airspace surveillance, control systems, communications, radio electronic warfare (EW) and cyber security, this partnership indicates Armenia’s desire to develop its own defense industry and technology base.” This cooperation can strengthen Armenia’s capabilities in the areas of airspace control, border protection, anti-UAV combat and artillery coordination.

In the conditions when the peace agreement is not yet signed and the environment of trust is not fully formed, the strengthening or increase of the military-technical potential can create new security risks in the South Caucasus. This moment requires special attention in the context of border tensions, the implementation of communication projects and the maintenance of the regional balance of power.”

It is interesting that you will not hear such texts from the Azerbaijani propaganda machine when there are contracts worth millions of euros with different countries. sealing Baku or when British Ambassador to Azerbaijan Duncan Norman announces that Great Britain-Azerbaijan relations in the field of defense are experiencing the strongest period in their history.

Of course, it is not the case that such texts and fears are addressed from Armenia to Azerbaijan. Meanwhile, Baku has warnings reviews also did in connection with the “Eagle Partner-2026” military exercise being held in the Republic of Armenia on June 17-25, especially when this year, in addition to the US servicemen, the servicemen of the French and Greek armed forces are participating. But Baku is not limited to this, and from time to time also accuses Iran of arming Armenia, as one of the specialized military and propaganda telegram channels close to the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan did recently.

So, Baku and Aliyev, at least in the propaganda field, continue to target the RA armed forces and issues related to defense capabilities, why not create “grounds” for the legitimization of possible provocations by first blaming the Armenian side?

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168TVof “Trigger” the guest of the program Alexander Ananev, retired senior advisor of the Russian Foreign Ministry is:

Key issues of the regional and international agenda were discussed during the conversation.

Special attention was paid to the visit of Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to Moscow after the parliamentary elections in Armenia, as well as to the role of Russia and Turkey in the current geopolitical processes of the South Caucasus.

The participants of the program also discussed the prospects of Armenia’s interaction with the European Union and the Eurasian Economic Union, the possible political and economic consequences of various foreign policy scenarios.

The working meeting of the Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan, Hikmet Hajiyev, and the Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia, Armen Grigoryan, held in Dilijan, as well as its possible impact on regional processes and the negotiation agenda, became a separate topic of discussion.

In addition, during the program, the TRIPP initiative was considered in the context of the development of the situation around Iran and its potential impact on regional security and transport-logistics projects.

Hayk Derzyan

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Qatar and Pakistan, which are brokering US-Iran technical talks, said the United States and Iran had agreed on a “roadmap to reach a final agreement within 60 days” following progress on the first day of high-level talks in Switzerland.

The talks followed a 14-point memorandum of understanding signed on June 17, which set a framework for de-escalating tensions between Washington and Tehran and set the stage for further talks. The progress was made after a 12-hour meeting on the shores of Lake Lucerne, attended by high-ranking officials from both countries.

The joint statement also announced the creation of a special coordinating group, the purpose of which is to contribute to the cessation of Israeli military operations in Lebanon. In addition, a high-level committee and direct communication mechanisms have been established to support further negotiations.

The US delegation was headed by Vice President JD Vance, and included Jared Kushner, son-in-law of President Donald Trump, and special representative Steve Wittkoff. The Iranian delegation was headed by the Speaker of the Parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was also part of the delegation.

According to the joint statement issued by Qatar and Pakistan, a high-level commission was established to exercise political control over the mediation process. The statement states that the commission has agreed on a “roadmap to reach a final agreement within 60 days”, and technical negotiations will continue over the next two months.

“The chief negotiators will report regularly to the High-Level Commission and lead working groups on the nuclear program, sanctions, as well as monitoring and dispute settlement, in order to ensure the effective implementation of the memorandum of understanding,” the statement said. Despite the agreement reached, a number of key issues remain open. Among them are whether Iran will be allowed to continue enriching uranium, what fate awaits the stockpiles of highly enriched uranium, to what extent international inspections should be carried out, and when sanctions can be eased. The parties also agreed to create a direct communication channel that will operate on the issues of the Strait of Hormuz in order to avoid incidents and misunderstandings, as well as to ensure the safe passage of commercial ships.

The statement was published in the conditions when navigation on this waterway of strategic importance continues to be disrupted.

The agreement also envisages the creation of a special coordination group, which should monitor the implementation of the agreements on the cessation of hostilities in Lebanon. Araghchi stated that “significant progress” has been recorded towards the end of the war in Lebanon, but he emphasized that the first real test of the agreement will be the efficiency of the coordinating group. These statements were made after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel will remain in the security zone established in South Lebanon for as long as it deems necessary.

Araghchi also hinted that the agreement includes significant economic concessions from Washington, although the United States has not yet publicly confirmed the information.

In a post published on the X social network, he noted that the sanctions imposed on Iran’s oil exports and the sale of petrochemical products were lifted, the embargo was lifted, some frozen Iranian assets were released, and a large-scale program for the restoration and development of Iran was launched. According to him, these were the main conditions that Tehran insisted on fulfilling for a long time.

According to international experts, optimism about the reached agreements is still premature. Although the parties have agreed on the political framework of the negotiations, the most complex issues remain unresolved. It concerns not only the future of Iran’s nuclear program, but also the sanctions lifting mechanisms, the extent of international control and the transformation of the regional security architecture.

It is even more remarkable that Washington and Tehran are trying to include both nuclear and regional security issues in the same negotiating package, which significantly increases the vulnerability of the agreement. It is enough for the parties to fail in any direction, and the whole process can reach a dead end.

From a geopolitical point of view, the emerging agreement can be considered as an attempt to find a new balance of forces in the Middle East. If earlier the US policy was based on containment and isolation of Iran, now Washington, in fact, is trying to involve Tehran in regional settlement processes, recognizing its influence in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and the security system of the Persian Gulf.

This may mean a gradual replacement of power confrontation in the region with controlled competition. Although in Iran, they treat the steps and political will of the USA with great distrust. At the same time, such an approach raises serious concerns in Israel and a number of Arab states of the Persian Gulf, which consider the institutionalization of Iran’s role as a strategic threat.

For the South Caucasus, the process is no less important. If a phase of relative stabilization begins in US-Iran relations, Iran will get greater opportunities to concentrate its foreign political and economic resources. In that case, Tehran can be more actively involved in communication and transport projects of the South Caucasus, trying to strengthen its position as a regional transit hub. At the same time, the probability that Iran will deal exclusively with security issues and push its northern direction into the background is decreasing.

This creates both opportunities and risks for Armenia. On the one hand, easing the pressure on Iran can contribute to the expansion of Armenian-Iranian economic cooperation. On the other hand, if Washington and Tehran reach broader regional agreements, the South Caucasus may become one of the zones of influence of these new deals, where the great powers will try to rearrange their interests and spheres of influence. Under these conditions, one more challenge will be added to Yerevan’s already numerous challenges.

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NA MP Tigran Abrahamyan writes:

“Today is the birthday of the former president of Artsakh, Arkady Ghukasyan, who is in prison in Baku.

Ghukasyan’s life and all his work activities are related to the Artsakh movement, the activities of state institutions in Artsakh and the recognition process of Artsakh.

Freedom to Arkady Ghukasyan and all Armenians in Azerbaijani prisons.”

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While the Minister of Economy, Gevorg Papoyan, presents indicators, stating how many apricots, flowers, tomatoes and peppers were exported to the European market, florists claim that they do not export flowers to the European market, the only market is Georgia, where they exported a very small amount of flowers, that is, only roses.

After May 22, when Russia restricted the import of flowers from Armenia, Armenian florists faced the fact that they cannot sell the flower in the domestic market, and in the conditions of the impossibility of export, they are forced to throw away the flower.

Andranik Barseghyan, a resident of Mkhchyan village, engaged in thermal management of roses he says that during this period only roses were exported to Georgia, and that too in small quantities.

“In the conditions of export restrictions to the Russian market, we have suffered great losses. They are talking only about the Georgian market, at the moment there are no talks about other European markets.

Mkhchyan is a big village, most of them cultivate greenhouses and flowers, all of them have export problems. Now we cannot sell our flowers in the domestic market, firstly, it is very cheap, and secondly, the whole market is full of flowers.”– 168.am–Andranik Barseghyan said in a conversation with

He claims that the issue will not be solved only through the Georgian market, the state must take steps to help the peasants, and many have suffered during this period.

“There is no other option, they should help us until the European market, as they say, is open to us. At the moment, the export figures are very low, and they are exported from large greenhouses that grow flowers on 10-20 hectares. For example, mine is 2000 square meters, it is a home business, I don’t know how they will export it. Small greenhouses will suffer, it is easy to conclude a contract with large ones, to check. It turns out that if they sign a contract with 10 people like me, they will sign a contract with 1 big one,” emphasized our interlocutor.

Unlike the resident of Mkhchyan, Florist Artak Tovmasyan from Zvartnots since May 22, not a single flower has been exported to the European market, let alone to the Georgian market. It is already the second month, he takes the flowers out of the greenhouse and piles them in the area adjacent to the greenhouse, and after they dry, he burns them.

“It is a lie that they export flowers to the European market. If Gevorg Papoyan says that he exports flowers to the European market, let him specifically say that the export was from greenhouses. Let them say, was it from the greenhouses of Abovyan, Zvartnots, Shirak or Ararat?

Now if I say that I exported 100 furs of flowers, some people will believe, some will not. Therefore, let them show that they took the flower, for example, Artatak, Sargis took it, and show the country where this flower was brought. Whom I am talking to, they did not take flowers from anyone, it is only known that some Georgians took them, and we don’t know if they took them for the market or something else.

We do not sell in the domestic market, we sell one flower for 10 drams every day, 10 thousand drams to buy that day’s bread.” 168.amArtak Tovmasyan said in a conversation with

Our interlocutor conveyed to Gevorg Papoyan that various greenhouse owners want to meet him and ask questions.

“I have practical questions to ask the Minister of Economy, let him tell, for example, how a farmer should sell his goods. We understand, they sell more or less in the domestic market, but how can we get them to the European market? I have so many questions that Papoyan is unlikely to want to meet with us.

What they are talking about on TV, they are talking about their greenhouse owners, this refers to those who have greenhouses of 5 hectares or more.

I pledged 6 million drams in gold, I haven’t made payments for 2 months, I called and said that I am a greenhouse owner, I can’t pay the monthly interest, if you want, sell the gold. We have been taking medicine and seeds from acquaintances for a month.

As for the flowers sold in supermarkets during the last few days, Artak Tovmasyan said, again the flowers from the greenhouses of the big ones were taken to the supermarkets.

“They are the flowers of people close to them, or not from our greenhouses? These flowers, which are sold for 1,500 drams, they are sold for 750 drams each in Russia. It is a very bad situation,” emphasized Artak Tovmasyan.

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In the “Pressing” program Satik Seyranyan the guest Head of the “Armenia is me” political initiative, economist Nairi Sargsyan is.

The main theses of the interview are below.

• Nikol Pashinyan’s formula for independence was to replace dependence on the few with dependence on the many. By many, he meant Azerbaijan and Turkey. The contract signed with Telecom Armenia, an Azerbaijani telecommunications company, is dangerous. our internet is in the hands of Azerbaijan, we will not have internet for 10 days. There is also a risk of data transmission. In other words, the entire Armenian information field is handed over to Azerbaijan.

• In my adult life, I don’t remember such a misuse of administrative resources during an election. If we add to that the state election bribery and election fraud, the outcome was predictable. This was not enough in the assembly, and at 2 o’clock in the morning they decided to stop the calculation so that the number they wanted would be obtained as a result.

• All actions of the opposition should be derived from the main goal. There must be a legal struggle, but it must be combined with other types of struggle. Armenia’s number one threat has not been eliminated. If taking the mandate, the legal dispute will help to remove him, then it should be done. If street fighting is going to help, it should be done:

• Nikol Pashinyan knows very well that if he goes to the elections even once, he will not have the votes of him. In the near future, he will increase the volume of state election bribes and go to early elections.

• Aliyev asks a short and specific question. Are you changing your constitution or not? If you don’t change, I don’t need you either. Therefore, go and do your assignment. And if Pashinyan fails to do this, he provides himself with a legitimate basis for early elections, at the hands of Arman Babajanyan, whose power has also appealed to the Constitutional Court against the opposition forces that passed the Parliament.:

• There is a measurable wave of anti-Russian sentiment in Armenia. And when Russia took action against Armenia a week before the elections, it helped Pashinyan. People turned against Russia when Nikol Pashinyan’s actions led to such steps by Russia. Nikol Pashinyan presented Artsakh to Azerbaijan in Prague, some people still say that the Russian gave Karabakh to Azerbaijan.

• Decisions in the EAEU are made by consensus, and I have little hope that Armenia will not be left out of the EAEU anyway, because that would be the end of Armenia.

• Armenian agricultural products have a problem, Russia turned a blind eye to it for years, now it doesn’t, some people say that Russia is an enemy… And when Europe never buys Armenian products because of the same problems, those same people say that Europe is good…

• Let’s imagine that we are in the desert, there is no animal or plant world around, and they bring us, they give us 1 million dollars. What are we going to do, eat sand? This is what Europe is doing, it says: cut off relations with Russia, don’t send goods, I will give you money with interest. We applaud too. 

• Europe just makes promises… 2.5 billion euros were promised 3 years ago. Where is that money? 

• Not exporting goods to Russia means the destruction of Armenian agriculture. Tightening the ring around Armenia, it breaks the backbone of our resistance. We come under the influence of Azerbaijan with the Internet, and with Turkey with energy, because they are forcing us to close our nuclear power plant, instead, a new nuclear power plant is being built in Turkey… Pashinyan is handing over Armenia in European packaging to the complete control of Turkey, mediated through Azerbaijan:

• Azerbaijan cannot sell gas to us. it will be Russian gas brought through Azerbaijan, and in return we will pay a commission to Azerbaijan. If the price of gas even doubles, the cost of heating an average 2-3 room apartment in winter will be about 150,000 drams. The price of gas will affect the cost of all other goods by 50%, electricity will also become more expensive. After importing Azerbaijani diesel and gasoline, their price increased significantly. Now the same will happen with gas. In the winter season, as a result of the Aliyev-Pashinyan agreement, they will not give us gas, and Pashinyan will come and say: dear people, if we do not change the Constitution, we will freeze, Azerbaijan will not give gas:

• Nikol Pashinyan has a problem of legitimacy. he will put the lives and well-being of us all on the table, but he will not allow resentment against him to grow at this stage. He has fallen into a situation where he is literally begging for money to shut people up. Any borrowed money will come at the expense of our future tax increases because it will be borrowed money. So, the farms that are happy today that the government will give them money, let them know that their minor children will leave 30% of their future wages to the state to pay off the debts taken by their fathers.:

• Nikol Pashinyan cannot have a goal as a separate entity. he has to run errands. In his case, the formula is very simple: does he follow the boss’s instructions or not?

• I have one advice for people: to actively participate in any process aimed at removing the main evil of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan.

• Pashinyan was not elected, he is not legitimate, but there is good news. Pashinyan cannot change the Constitution and make territorial concessions. You have to be ready to fire him at any time. Pashinyan cannot but go to the extraordinary elections, because his obligations will remind him on a daily basis. The thesis of the return of 300,000 Azerbaijanis is not false, the handover of Verin Voskepar is not false, the aspirations of Azerbaijan regarding the “Zangezur Corridor” are not false thesis… 

• You should be ready to go to special elections within 6 months to 1.5 years.

Details in the video.

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