▲Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze (left) and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan (right). Official photo.
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Ahead of the match between Georgian and Armenian national football teams, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze met with his Armenian counterpart Nikol Pashinyan. The two leaders were also photographed attending the match.
On Thursday, the first match of the Nations League play-offs was held at the Vazgen Sargsyan Stadium in Yerevan.
The Georgian government stated that during Kobakhidze and Pashinyan’s face-to-face meeting at the Government House of Armenia, ‘the two leaders discussed the fruitful cooperation and longstanding good-neighborly relations between Georgia and Armenia’.
‘Special attention was given to key items on the strategic partnership agenda, including cooperation in trade, economy, transport and culture’, the statement read.
According to the Georgian government, the discussion also covered ‘regional challenges and the crucial importance of peace and stability in the South Caucasus’.
‘Irakli Kobakhidze emphasised that Georgia welcomes the conclusion of peace agreement negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, marking a historic step toward lasting peace and stability in the region’.
The Armenian government in turn stated that ‘Kobakhidze arrived in Armenia on a working visit’.
According to them, Pashinyan thanked Kobakhidze for accepting the invitation to attend the football match.
‘During the private conversation, the topical issues of Armenia–Georgia relations were touched upon. Prime Minister Pashinyan informed Irakli Kobakhidze about reaching an agreement on the draft text of the “Agreement on the Establishment of Peace and Interstate Relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan” and the completion of negotiations on the agreement on the draft text’, the statement read.
Armenia and Azerbaijan announced they had agreed on the terms of a historic peace deal on 13 March, after over three decades of bitter conflict. If the agreement were to be signed and upheld, it could see an end to a conflict that has spanned two major wars, countless skirmishes, and has left thousands dead on both sides.
Both Pashinyan and Kobakhidze attended the Armenia–Georgia football match in Armenia, which took place on Thursday and ended with a Georgian 3–0 victory over Armenia.
The next match between the Armenian and Georgian national football teams will be held in Tbilisi on Sunday.
Kobakhidze has already been to Armenia this year. On 30 January, he arrived to attend the ‘14th session of the Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation’, during which he also met with Pashinyan.
In January 2024, a memorandum on strategic partnership was signed between Georgia and Armenia.
At the time, then-Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili stated that Georgia and Armenia ‘are traditionally, historically very strong allies, friends, not just neighbours’.
‘We have a very good partnership, relationship, cooperation in all directions and de facto, one could say, we were already strategic friends and strategic partners’, he said.
‘Today, we can already say that this reality, this given, has been formalised and we have officially signed a cooperation agreement on strategic partnership’.
Armenia, along with Azerbaijan, is one of the few countries that congratulated the ruling Georgian Dream party on its victory in the 2024 parliamentary elections, as well as on its election of Mikheil Kavelashvili as President of Georgia.
A group of leading Armenian civil society organisations have released a statement expressing ‘strong solidarity’ with their Georgian counterparts, after Georgia’s authorities revived a controversial draft law targeting civil society organisations and the media.
On Friday, more than 20 civil society organisations and individuals signed a statement asserting that the concept of ‘foreign influence’ was associated with ‘advancing conspiracy theories used for violations of human rights and prosecut
Bank of Georgia has reached an agreement to acquire Ameriabank, one of the largest banks in Armenia, for $303.6 million.
Bank of Georgia Group, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, announced its proposed acquisition of 90% of the Armenian bank on Monday. The agreement would allow the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to retain its 10% share in the bank.
The acquisition still requires approval by regulators, including the Central Bank of Armenia.
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Georgian customs have hindered the transit of Armenian matsun to Russia through Georgian borders, basing the restriction on the similarity of the product’s name to a local yoghurt.
This week, the controversy surrounding matsun and matsoni resurfaced in Armenia and Georgia.
The yoghurt-like dairy products both share similarities in production, taste, and name.
According to Armenpress, the Armenian Ministry of Economy said Georgia had blocked the transit of Armenian matsun to Russia through
