Diplomacy

Hours after US President Donald Trump said his ceasefire had taken effect, Israel said it intercepted two Iranian missiles, with Defence Minister Israel Katz vowing that the military would "respond forcefully". Israel had stated on Tuesday it agreed to Trump's declaration of a ceasefire with Iran, adding that it had achieved all its objectives in the 12-day war with its arch-enemy. According to AFP, Iran denied launching missiles at Israel after the ceasefire announcement, and said it had "compelled" Israel to "unilaterally halt its aggression", while stopping short of officially accepting the ceasefire plan.

​​​​​​​Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares will ask EU ministers in Brussels to suspend the agreement with Israel with immediate effect. According to Albares, "The time for words and statements is over", and he added that "The Palestinians in Gaza have no time to lose."

Pashinyan's official visit to Türkiye on June 20, 2025, marks a strategic shift from symbolic reconciliation to strategic rapprochement. Normalisation, for Yerevan, is not an end in itself but a transformative initiative to put an end to Armenia's geopolitical isolation, to diversify its transit routes, to decrease its reliance on Russia and to get access to Turkish ports, measures that reorient Armenia economically and logistically toward the West. Türkiye, on its part, is seizing the moment to strengthen its role as a regional intermediary. Consequently, by promoting normalisation, Ankara solidifies its impact in the South Caucasus and sends a positive signal to Western partners: the EU and U.S., in particular, about its evolving role in the region's stabilisation.

Armenian prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, made a well-prepared and carefully orchestrated visit to Türkiye on Friday evening (20 June), during which he held talks with the Turkish President, Recip Tayip Erdogan. Commonspace.eu political editor in a comment said that Pashinyan‘s visit to Türkiye was well prepared and carefully orchestrated by the two sides. Potentially the visit can be a game-changer in Armenia- Türkiye relations, leading to the restoration of full diplomatic relations and the opening of borders. In both Armenia and Türkiye there is increasing support for these steps.  No major breakthrough was announced after the visit, but none was expected. The day before Pashinyan’s visit, Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev also met Erdogan in  Türkiye. Aliyev continues to push Türkiye not to take any steps with Armenia before Armenia and Azerbaijan settle the differences between them. But Türkiye may decide to make a move sooner than the Azerbaijan president wants.

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda are set to sign a peace agreement on 27 June in Washington, following months of negotiations brokered by the United States. The deal aims to bring an end to renewed fighting in eastern Congo, where tensions between the two countries have escalated over the presence of armed groups and cross-border military operations.