News in Brief: From the National Assembly to Moscow, Apologies to Allegations Against Kocharian

News from the past hour, summarized and substantive.

• Rubén Rubinyan noted that the ability to apologize is an important value, contrasting Prime Minister Pashinyan's apology with Kocharian's behavior in the context of the Poghos Poghosyan case.
• Rubinyan announced that Armenian-Turkish negotiations have not stalled, yet there are no new developments at this time, and he spoke with Serdar Kilic two days ago.
• The Vice Speaker of the National Assembly emphasized that all data regarding awards are made public through declarations, and there is no issue of transparency.
• Speaker of the National Assembly Alen Simonyan clarified that the awards amounted to approximately one salary for each employee.
• Rubinyan denied accusations that the evaluation mechanism for public servants had political motives ahead of the elections.
• Rubinyan called on Kocharian and his family to pay $200 million to the state budget and not overload the judicial system.
• Vahagn Aleksanyan accused the opposition of making dangerous statements that disrupt the peace process and provoke war.
• Aleksanyan stated that the depopulation of Nagorno-Karabakh occurred as a result of the system established by previous governments.
• Aleksanyan explained that Nikol Pashinyan was legally discharged from the army, as two brothers from the family had already served.
• Minister of Economy Gevorg Papoyan reported that economic activity grew by 7.4% in the first two months of 2026, with growth recorded in all major sectors.
• Dmitry Peskov announced that Russia remains open for negotiations regarding Ukraine, commenting on Trump’s statements.
• Peskov also noted that Turkey could use its influence to prevent strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.