Armenia hosted the European Political Community summit in Yerevan for the first time, bringing together more than 40 leaders from countries including France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Ukraine, Poland and Moldova, Armenpress reported on May 4. The summit will be followed by the first-ever EU-Armenia summit on May 5.

Yerevan is using the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace deal to secure visible Western political backing before the June 7 parliamentary election as inflation rises and economic momentum softens. Pashinyan has tied his electoral case to peace, normalization and reduced dependence on Russia.