The British Embassy in Yerevan has released a statement on the first anniversary of the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace summit held in Washington, D.C., expressing its commitment to supporting efforts towards lasting peace.

“On the first anniversary of the agreements reached at the Washington Summit, we recognize the political leadership shown in taking a historic step towards peace. Maintaining momentum through continued dialogue and cooperation remains essential to building a secure and prosperous region for generations to come. The UK remains committed to supporting efforts towards a durable and lasting peace,” the British Embassy said in a statement.

Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a U.S.-mediated joint peace declaration in Washington on August 8, 2025. On the same day, Armenia and Azerbaijan also initialed a peace treaty.

French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs spokesperson Pascal Confavreux has issued a statement marking the first anniversary of the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace summit held in Washington, D.C.

“August 8, 2026, marks the first anniversary of the historic agreement aimed at normalizing relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Over the past year, the authorities of the two countries have taken important and courageous steps to make peace a tangible reality for their peoples. The reopening of the borders between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the development of regional connectivity should create an opportunity for the South Caucasus to once again become a space for comprehensive cooperation, serving as a link between Europe and Asia. France hopes that the process will continue with the signing and ratification of a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” the statement says.

He added that France, together with its European partners, will continue to actively contribute to this process, with full respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a U.S.-mediated joint peace declaration in Washington on August 8, 2025. On the same day, the two countries also initialed a peace treaty.

The Firebird AI Factory has officially opened in Armenia’s Hrazdan, marking the launch of the first phase of a major investment project.

“This is an important and historic day for our city,” Hrazdan Mayor Sevak Mikayelyan said.

“From now on, Hrazdan will appear on the global technology map as a center of innovation and high technology,” Mikayelyan said.

According to him, the AI Factory’s operations will create new opportunities for Hrazdan’s economic development, attract new investments, and create new jobs.

“This is a new page in Hrazdan’s history,” he said.

Mikayelyan recalled that the total investment in the data center construction project is estimated at $5 billion.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attended the official opening ceremony of the Firebird AI Factory in Hrazdan, highlighting the role of the August 8, 2025, Armenia-Azerbaijan peace summit in Washington in making the project possible.

The opening took place on the first anniversary of the peace summit.

“First, let me congratulate all of us on this event and, more broadly, on August 8, because I feel that August 8 is gaining increasing significance in the history of the Republic of Armenia.

What is happening today is, in fact, a very important and significant event. For a long time, we have been discussing, both publicly and privately within the government, the need to change our understanding of speed. When, last year, Rev Lebaredian (NVIDIA vice president), Razmig Hovaghimian (Firebird AI co-founder), and Alexander Yesayan (Firebird AI co-founder) told us about their intention to implement such a project within a year or even less, I must admit that it sounded very unusual and even strange. At least, I did not show my feelings about it.

And here we are today, at the exact agreed location and at the right time. But we must recognize what made all this possible.

Of course, it is clear that the peace summit held at the White House in the United States on August 8, 2025, at the initiative and with the participation of U.S. President Donald Trump, and its outcome were of key importance to today’s event.

I remember that last September, we had to justify ourselves for returning from the United States having signed only a memorandum of understanding in the fields of technology and artificial intelligence, because many people were not convinced by our argument that the memorandum was a substantial document and would produce results very soon.

And here is the result.”

Pashinyan once again emphasized that August 8, 2025, was a turning point for both Armenia and Azerbaijan.

“I called the President of Azerbaijan today, by the way, and we spoke about the significance of today’s event. This is indeed an event of historic importance. We must acknowledge that peace is a turning point in terms of transforming the economic and investment environment in our country. Following these developments, international agencies have been revising Armenia’s sovereign credit ratings one after another, essentially sending a clear message to the investment community that Armenia is a place where investments can be made with confidence,” Pashinyan said.

He added that in the near future, the Armenian government will focus on another large-scale project, the TRIPP project, which will further raise Armenia’s profile on the international investment map.

According to the Prime Minister, it is particularly interesting to see how political and economic processes go hand in hand.

“In our reality, although much has been discussed at the theoretical level about the interconnectedness of the economy and politics, and of investment and politics, in practice, we have not often seen this. Today’s event is a vivid example. Following the establishment of strategic relations with the United States in January 2025, developments have accelerated,” he said.

Kazakhstan’s Deputy Prime Minister Zhaslan Madiyev also attended the event. In his speech, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan recalled that he had spoken by phone with the President of Kazakhstan the previous week and held working discussions with the Kazakh Prime Minister on August 7 on the sidelines of a meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council.

“It is a great pleasure for us to have the Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan here today, and we are grateful for his presence. Today, relations between Armenia and Kazakhstan are developing at an incredible pace. This is a very good example of how politics is changing in the Republic of Armenia, how political perceptions are changing in the Republic of Armenia, and how the very concept of the state is being reaffirmed in the Republic of Armenia,” Pashinyan said.

He also addressed Armenia-Diaspora cooperation, noting that the opening of the artificial intelligence factory in Hrazdan is a very good example of such cooperation.

According to him, Rev Lebaredian and Razmig Hovaghimian, who represent the Armenian Diaspora, are focused not on sympathizing with Armenia, but on contributing to the country’s development and playing an active role in its progress.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the Republic of Armenia does not need sympathy, and I say this officially. The Republic of Armenia needs partnership and cooperation. The Republic of Armenia is a reliable partner, and I want to thank you, dear compatriots, for responding to the government’s message.

I truly appreciate it, and it is a great honor for me that today we are talking about completely different agendas—an agenda of the state, an agenda of life, an agenda of the future. The future is now, it is here, it is today, and you can see that future with your own eyes today. Thank you to everyone who has helped create that future,” the Prime Minister concluded.

Firebird’s data center in Hrazdan is the largest AI factory in the CIS region, establishing a new AI computing hub powered by NVIDIA accelerated computing and Dell Technologies’ high-performance AI infrastructure.

While AI services are available globally, countries also need the capacity to develop and run AI for their own languages, industries and national priorities. Firebird’s AI factory brings that capacity to Armenia, giving developers, startups, enterprises, universities and public institutions the compute to build and scale AI at home.

NVIDIA said that Firebird plans to deploy more than 70,000 NVIDIA Rubin and Blackwell GPUs and 300 megawatts of AI infrastructure capacity in Armenia by the end of 2027, accelerating the country’s development as a center for AI research, advanced computing and innovation.

At this scale, energy efficiency is essential. Built on the NVIDIA DSX platform, this AI factory integrates accelerated computing, networking, power and cooling as one codesigned system. Firebird’s AI factory is designed from the ground up to turn compute into revenue. With DSX, it can run up to 40% more GPUs on the same footprint, producing more tokens per dollar and extracting more value from every megawatt of capacity.

NVIDIA Founder and CEO Jensen Huang also lauded the launch in a video message.

UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has congratulated Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, a senior member of the Civil Contract party, on the party’s victory in the June 7 parliamentary elections.

“The establishment of our Strategic Partnership has opened a new chapter in UK-Armenia ties, providing a framework for deeper cooperation across shared priorities. I hope our teams can continue to work together closely as we take this important work forward,” Miliband said in a letter to Mirzoyan, according to the Foreign Ministry.

Tone Kajzer, Slovenia’s newly appointed Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, has congratulated Armenia’s Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan on his reappointment, the Foreign Ministry said.

“Slovenia firmly supports the growing partnership between the European Union and Armenia. We stand ready to contribute to efforts to build lasting peace, resilience and sustainable stability across the wider region,” FM Kajzer said in a letter.

Following the parliamentary elections, the Pashinyan administration began a new term, with nearly all Cabinet members retaining their posts.

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has congratulated his Armenian counterpart, Ararat Mirzoyan, on his reappointment.

According to Armenia’s Foreign Ministry, in his letter addressed to Mirzoyan, the Chinese FM said that China-Armenia relations are currently developing with steady momentum, while cooperation in various areas is progressing steadily.

“Last year, President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan jointly announced the establishment of a strategic partnership between the two countries. I am ready to work with you to implement the important agreements reached by the leaders of our countries, strengthen cooperation between our foreign ministries, and promote the steady development of bilateral relations,” the Chinese Foreign Minister said in his message.

Following the Civil Contract party’s victory in the parliamentary elections, the Pashinyan administration began a new term, with nearly all Cabinet members retaining their positions.

Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Đurić has congratulated Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan on his reappointment.

The Foreign Ministry released Đurić’s letter, which reads: “I am confident that the traditional friendship, mutual support and understanding that exist between our peoples and countries will continue to develop, and that together we will successfully contribute to the strengthening of overall cooperation between the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Armenia, both at the bilateral level and within international organizations.”

The three-day “Dalan Fest” rock festival kicked off in Gyumri on August 7. As the name of the festival suggests, the event transforms the city’s historic dalans (passageways) into unique concert venues.

The festival is organized with the support of the Tourism Committee of the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Armenia and at the initiative of the “Manukyan Company.”

“Gyumri’s dalans [passageways] have been gathering places for distinctive, modern-minded young people, where rock music was played. When we held “Dalan Fest” for the first time in 2019, our goal was, on the one hand, to restore that tradition, and, on the other hand, to give rock music enthusiasts, city residents, and visitors an opportunity during the festival to discover Gyumri’s distinctive architectural structures—the dalans—which do not exist in every city. We want to show that they can also become cultural environments and platforms,” Lilit Tovmasyan, Head of the Culture Department of the Gyumri City Hall, said, noting that the festival had been suspended for many years, mainly due to financial problems, and that only this year was it possible to revive it.

This year, three well-preserved passageways of suitable size in Gyumri have been selected, which will come alive with rock rhythms from August 7 to 9.

According to the organizers, the festival aims to bring musical life out of concert halls by providing free and open events in Gyumri’s public spaces for residents and visitors.

On the first day of the festival, August 7, the opening took place at 188 Shahumyan Street, where the band “KANGUN” performed, consisting of Levon Yerkanian (vocals, guitar), Hovhannes Hovhannisyan (cello, guitar), Raffi Muradyan (bass guitar), and Hrach Amirkhanyan (drums).

Today, August 8, the festival opens its doors at 8 Tigran Mets Street, where the band “TIEZERK” will perform, featuring Lusine Mlke-Galstyan, Eliza Baghdiyan, Shushan Tamanyan, and Narek Baghdasaryan.

Tomorrow, August 9, the festival will conclude with a final concert at 67 Gorky Street, where the band “KOUCHI BLUES” will perform, consisting of Armen Babakhanyan, Gurgen Ebejian, and Levon Hakhverdyan.

All concerts are free, and for the convenience of guests arriving from the capital, a free shuttle service between Yerevan and Gyumri and back will operate on August 8-9. Departure from Yerevan’s Republic Square is at 12:00, and the return from Gyumri’s Vardanants Square is scheduled for 21:00.

Another cargo shipment has been carried out from Russia to Armenia in transit through Azerbaijan, according to the Azerbaijani APA news agency.

The shipment consists of a total of 15 wagons carrying 1,049 tons of wheat and 10 wagons carrying 700 tons of coal.

According to APA estimates, more than 37,000 tons of grain, nearly 9,000 tons of fertilizer, 1,136 tons of propane, 133 tons of aluminum, 414 tons of anthracite, and 67,000 tons of timber have been sent from Russia to Armenia in transit through Azerbaijan since shipments began.

At the same time, nearly 15,000 tons of diesel and nearly 5,000 tons of AI-92 and AI-95 gasoline have so far been exported from Azerbaijan to Armenia.