Armenian Government Finalizes Cabinet as Georgian PM Speaks Out on Regional Disputes

On August 2, the day of the first session of the newly formed National Assembly following the June 7 parliamentary elections, the government of Armenia formally resigned. The President of Armenia accepted the resignation, clearing the way for the ruling majority, the Civil Contract party, to officially nominate Nikol Pashinyan for the post of Prime Minister.

By August 3, President Vahagn Khachaturyan had approved the appointments of the new cabinet ministers and deputy prime ministers. As part of this leadership restructuring, Ararat Mirzoyan was officially reappointed to his role as Minister of Foreign Affairs.

International Congratulations from Vietnam and Cambodia

In light of his reappointment, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan received a congratulatory message from the Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Le Minh Hoang. The Vietnamese premier emphasized that Hanoi has always valued its traditional, friendly relations with Armenia and expressed a strong readiness to cooperate closely across various sectors.

Similarly, Cambodia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prak Sokhonn, extended his congratulations to Ararat Mirzoyan. He highlighted three decades of close ties between the two nations, emphasizing the importance of shared values.

"These relations have been further strengthened thanks to the existing dialogue mechanisms between our ministries," Sokhonn noted, as reported by the state news agency Armenpress.

Georgian Prime Minister Weighs In on Breakaway Regions

In a separate regional development, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze made a firm declaration that there is no such entity as the "Republic of South Ossetia" or the "Republic of Abkhazia." The head of the Georgian government stressed that official Tbilisi has absolutely no interest in the statements made by the de facto authorities of these breakaway territories. These comments were made shortly after South Ossetian representatives reacted to earlier remarks by Kobakhidze, in which he once again blamed former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili for initiating the August 2008 war.