13:32,
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 30, ARMENPRESS. No meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers is planned within the framework of the 30th Ministerial Council of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Skopje, foreign ministry spokesperson Ani Badalyan told Armenpress.
13:33,
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 30, ARMENPRESS. The first AI supercomputing center in the region will be opened in Armenia, Vice Speaker of Parliament Hakob Arshakyan has said.
The funding for launching the center will amount to approximately 8,5 million USD.
The project was discussed during Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s meeting with NVIDIA executive Jensen Huang in April.
Arshakyan said in a statement that the Cabinet has approved his recommendation on including the AI supercomputing center project in the 2024 state budget, and the proposal will be sent to parliament.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) Group has donated €200,000 to address the mental health and winter-related needs of the Karabakh Armenian children. It will support up to 26,000 children who have fled to Armenia following the military escalation in September 2023.
The donation is made via the EIB’s philanthropic arm, the EIB Institute, and delivered through UNICEF.
Thanks to the EIB Group donation, UNICEF will establish and operate a mental health helpline staffed by 20 trained counsellors for two years. The children and their caregivers will also receive face-to-face psychological support through play therapy, art therapy, and group sessions. The donation will also support refugee families through vouchers that will help them to cover their essential needs as the winter season begins.
In late September, more than 100,000 people took refuge in Armenia with children making up more than one-third of the displaced population, the EIB said.
“Children have suffered most from the conflict and displacement,” said Shiva Dustdar, director and dean of the EIB Institute. “It is a top priority for the EIB Institute to help them access the support and care they need to settle down and look forward to a brighter future.”
Find out more
Press release
https://euneighbourseast.eu/news/latest-news/armenia-eib-group-donates-e200000-to-unicef-for-psycho-social-support-for-refugees/
Regional security in the South Caucasus was discussed on Wednesday in a meeting between the Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili and Armen Grigoryan, the Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia, the legislative body said.
The officials highlighted “intensive development” of relations between the two countries, with Grigoryan congratulating Georgia on receiving the positive recommendation for the country to be granted the European Union membership candidate status.
The meeting also discussed the current state of the region and emphasised the importance of reaching a peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan, with Papuashvili noting Georgia would “always be ready” to promote regional peace.
The parties also pointed out the “growing importance” of the Middle Corridor – a multimodal transport corridor connecting China to Europe through the South Caucasus – and opportunities for economic diversification.
Armenia summons extraordinary meeting of Eurasian Economic Union amid disagreement with Russia
Armenian economy minister says meeting will take place within 2 days
Armenian Economy Minister Vaan Kerobyan said Wednesday that he initiated an extraordinary meeting of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) amid a disagreement with Russia.
He said at a news conference in Armenia's capital, Yerevan, that 35 Armenian trucks were refused entry at the Upper Lars border point between Russia and Georgia.
Kerobyan said the meeting will take place within two days, in the meanwhile the Armenian side is studying the Russian regulatory documents.
Relations between Russia and Armenia have been strained recently because of the situation in Karabakh. Armenian authorities expected that Russia and a military bloc led by Moscow, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), would fight for the Karabakh region which used to have an overwhelming Armenian population but is an internationally recognized Azerbaijan territory.
When Russia and the CSTO refused to interfere in Armenia's conditions, Yerevan accused them of failing to fulfill their ally obligations and turned to the West.
Following the new line, Armenian top officials, including Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, have been refusing to take part in the Eurasian format, including the EAEU and CSTO meetings.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, commenting on the Armenia's line, said Yerevan wants to continue profiting from participation in the Eurasian formats while taking unfriendly steps against their participants, including Russia.
TBILISI, Nov 29 (Reuters) – Armenia has convened emergency talks at the Moscow-led Eurasian Economic Union after Russia refused to allow in a growing number of its trucks amid a deepening diplomatic chill between the two nations, state news agency Armenpress reported on Wednesday.
Armenpress quoted Vahan Kerobyan, Armenia's economy minister, as saying that the number of Armenian vehicles denied entry to Russia had increased dramatically in recent days.
"It is simply strange that 35 trucks get turned around in a whole year, and then just within two days another 35 trucks (get turned around), when no changes have been made in our regulations or the quality of products of the suppliers,", Armenpress quoted Kerobyan as saying.
It cited Kerobyan as saying that emergency consultations on the matter would take place within the next two days.
Russia's agricultural watchdog said in a statement on Tuesday it had noted "a sharp increase" in sanitary violations in imported Armenian agricultural products.
The bulk of Armenian exports go via Georgia to Russia, with the only land link between the two countries being a single road connecting Georgia and Russia through the Caucasus mountains.
As of 1230 GMT on Thursday, a Russian government website said that 3,231 trucks were waiting at the Verkhny Lars border post, which is often closed due to weather conditions. It was not clear how many trucks had been turned away.
Relations between Russia and Armenia, a treaty ally of Moscow that is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, have sharply deteriorated in recent months.
Armenia has blamed Russia for the loss of the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan in September – something which resulted in a mass exodus of ethnic Armenians – while Russia has reacted angrily to Armenian attempts to deepen its ties to Western countries.
Reporting by Felix Light Editing by Andrew Osborn
https://www.reuters.com/world/armenia-convenes-talks-after-russia-bars-its-trucks-amid-diplomatic-spats-2023-11-29/
11:55,
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 29, ARMENPRESS. The parliament select committee probing the 2020 Second Nagorno Karabakh War has subpoenaed the former Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army Commander Samvel Babayan.
Babayan will participate in a meeting of the committee on November 29.
He told reporters he was ready to answer all questions.
“I was invited, I agreed to be present and answer questions. Why would I avoid it if I am ready to answer all questions? I will answer all questions honestly,” Babayan, a former Secretary of the Security Council of Nagorno-Karabakh, told reporters in parliament.
13:13,
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 29, ARMENPRESS. The meeting of the border delimitation commissions of Armenia and Azerbaijan scheduled to take place on November 30 will take place in the Ijevan and Qazax section of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, the Armenian authorities announced Wednesday.
The Armenian commission is chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan.
14:09,
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 29, ARMENPRESS. The newly crowned WBC world cruiserweight champion Noel Mikaelian has said he’ll likely defend his title sometime in the first months of 2024.
Mikaelian, 33, who has a record of 27 wins and 2 losses, won the vacant WBC cruiserweight title after defeating Ilunga Makabu in Miami earlier in November.
Noel Mikaelian moved from Armenia to Germany with his family when he was four. He then moved to the U.S. to train for his boxing matches.
The WBC champion is now visiting Armenia, and on November 27 he met with the Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Karen Giloyan.
Speaking at a press briefing on November 29, Mikaelian said it’s a great honor for him to be the second Armenian ever to have won the WBC title. The first Armenian to do so is Vic Darchinyan.
He said it’s too early to speak about future fights, but most likely he will defend his title in the first months of 2024.
“We are discussing the issue of organizing a professional boxing event in Armenia, which would make me very happy. I’d be proud to fight in the professional ring in Armenia,” he said.
Mikaelian, who represents Armenia in his fights, has won 12 of his 27 victories by way of knockout.
Speaking about his championship fight with Congolese boxer Ilunga Makabu, the Armenian champion said that organizing the fight wasn’t an easy task.
“Organizing the world championship fight was very difficult, because the boxer who had held the [WBC] title in the past [Makabu] knew that I was a tough opponent for him,” Mikaelian said.