Friday, September 8, 2023 Moscow Summons Armenian Envoy Over ‘Unfriendly’ Moves Russia - A view of the the building of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Moscow, January 13, 2019.: The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned Armenia’s ambassador on Friday to protest against what it described as “a series of unfriendly steps” taken by Yerevan against Moscow in recent days. The ministry listed the Armenian government’s decision to host a joint U.S.-Armenian military exercise, this week’s visit to Ukraine by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s wife and the Armenian parliament’s anticipated ratification of the founding treaty of the International Criminal Court, which issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin early this year. In a statement, it said Ambassador Vagharshak Harutiunian heard a “tough presentation” regarding these moves. He was also handed a note of protest against Armenian parliament speaker Alen Simonian’s “offensive remarks” addressed to Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry. Zakharova poured scorn on Pashinian on Monday after he declared that he wants to “diversify our security policy” because he believes Armenia’s military alliance with Russia has been a “strategic mistake.” Zakharova went on to decry Simonian’s “boorish” criticism of Russian peacekeepers stationed in Nagorno-Karabakh. “I’m not going to respond to some female secretary,” Simonian shot back the following day. “It’s not my level.” Russian-Armenian relations have significantly deteriorated over the past year, with Armenian leaders increasingly complaining about what they see as a lack of Russian support for Armenia in the conflict with Azerbaijan. The rift between Moscow and Yerevan has stoked speculation about a pro-Western shift in Armenia’s traditional geopolitical orientation. Some of Pashinian’s political allies as well as Western-funded civic groups have welcomed such a prospect. By contrast, Armenia’s main opposition groups are seriously concerned about it, arguing that the West is not ready to give Armenia security guarantees or military aid. The Foreign Ministry in Moscow insisted on Friday that Russia and Armenia “remain allies.” Azerbaijan Blasts Armenia Amid War Talk Azerbaijan - Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and presidential aide Hikmet Hajiyev meet with foreign diplomats, Baku, September 13, 2022. Azerbaijan accused Armenia of “imitating” peace talks and continuing to foment “separatism” in Nagorno-Karabakh on Friday following Armenian claims that it is planning another war in the conflict zone. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and two top aides to President Ilham Aliyev made the accusations during an extraordinary meeting with Baku-based ambassadors of foreign states. An Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry statement cited them as saying that Yerevan is not honoring Armenian-Azerbaijani agreements reached after the 2020 war in Karabakh. “Armenia's goal is to sustain separatism in the territory of Azerbaijan with all possible ideological, political, military, financial and other means. In this way, Armenia is trying to gain time and avoid real steps that can ensure progress in all areas of negotiations,” they said, according to the statement. The Azerbaijani officials also alleged that the Armenian side has stepped up “military provocations.” They went on to condemn as “extremely provocative” the election of Karabakh’s new president by local lawmakers scheduled for Saturday. The Armenian government said earlier this week that Azerbaijan has been massing troops along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and the Karabakh “line of contact” in possible preparation for offensive military operations. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian urged the international community to take “very serious measures” to thwart Baku’s alleged plans. Officials from the Armenian Defense Ministry on Friday again met with Yerevan-based foreign military attaches to brief them on the situation along the volatile border. According to a ministry statement, they said the situation remains “tense” because of the Azerbaijani military buildup. Armenian army units are therefore “continuing to take necessary actions to stabilize it and prevent provocations,” added the statement. Karabakh’s army said on Tuesday that “large numbers” of Azerbaijani soldiers and military hardware are massing at various sections of the line of contact. It released purported videos of the troop movements. The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said afterwards that its troops are simply engaging in routine training. Pro-Russian Blogger, Journalist Detained In Armenia • Ruzanna Stepanian Armenia- Journalist Ashot Gevorgian (left) and blogger Mika Badalian. An Armenian journalist working for the Russian news agency Sputnik and a pro-Russian blogger are among seven persons arrested in Armenia on suspicion of illegal arms possession and trafficking. Law-enforcement authorities have so far given few details of criminal proceedings that led to the arrests made in southeastern Syunik province on Wednesday and Thursday. According to them, the National Security Service (NSS) launched the investigation on August 24. Another law-enforcement agency, the Investigative Committee, said on Friday that two of the suspects were detained while trafficking an assault rifle, multiple pistols, hand grenades and ammunition provided by an unnamed resident of a Syunik village close to the Azerbaijani border. A committee spokesman refused to elaborate. A lawyer representing Sputnik journalist Ashot Gevorgian and blogger Mika Badalian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that the weapons were found in Gevorgian’s car. Liana Grigorian insisted, however, that the two men “have nothing to do” with them and that the arrests were the result of a “misunderstanding.” The lawyer also said that Gevorgian and Badalian, who is an outspoken critic of the Armenian government, travelled to Syunik on assignment on Wednesday and were taken into custody hours later. None of the seven suspects was formally charged as of Friday afternoon. Under Armenian law, the investigators must indict or free them within 72 hours after their detention. The Russian Embassy in Yerevan expressed concern at the arrests of Gevorgian and Badalian. “We will take steps to clarify the circumstances of what happened,” it said in a statement. The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, was also concerned, saying that the arrests may be a “provocation by those who go out of their way to ruin relations between the two countries.” “The West has invested a lot of money in that,” Zakharova wrote on Telegram late on Thursday. “Forces seeking that have clearly become more active lately.” The Russian-Armenian relationship has steadily deteriorated since the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh. Tensions between the two allied states rose this week after Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian called Armenia’s reliance on Russia for defense a “strategic mistake” and his government decided to host a U.S.-Armenian military exercise. Top U.S. Diplomat Phones Armenian, Azeri FMs Albania - U.S Ambassador to Albania Yuri Kim speaks during the inauguration of a memorial in Tirana,, July 9, 2020 A senior U.S. State Department official called on Friday for the simultaneous opening of the Lachin corridor and “other routes” for humanitarian supplies to Nagorno-Karabakh in phone calls with the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers. Yuri Kim, the acting assistant secretary of state for Europe and Eurasia, reiterated Washington’s “serious concerns over the humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh” when she spoke to Armenia’s Ararat Mirzoyan early in the morning. “We urge all sides to work together now to immediately and simultaneously open Lachin and other routes to get desperately needed humanitarian supplies into Nagorno-Karabakh,” she wrote in a post on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. Kim made the same point during her separate phone call with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov. She described their conversation as “constructive.” According to an Azerbaijani readout of the call, Bayramov denied the humanitarian crisis in Karabakh, saying that Baku has not been blocking the Armenian-populated region’s land link with Armenia and the outside world. He dismissed international calls for the unblocking of the Lachin corridor as “interference in our country’s internal affairs.” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev again discussed the situation in Karabakh in a September 1 call revealed by the U.S. State Department five days later. The department said Blinken insisted on the need for renewed traffic through the Lachin corridor “while recognizing the importance of additional routes from Azerbaijan.” Despite struggling with severe shortages of food, medicine and other basic necessities, most residents of Karabakh remain strongly opposed to the alternative supply line sought by Baku. They believe that it is aimed at legitimizing the blockade and helping Azerbaijan regain full control over Karabakh. Armenia’s position on the compromise solution favored by the United States as well as the European Union is not clear. The official statements on Kim’s phone talks with Mirzoyan and Bayramov did not say whether she also discussed mounting tensions along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and the Karabakh “line of contact.” Armenian officials say that Azerbaijan has been massing troops there in possible preparation for offensive military operations. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Thursday urged the international community to take “very serious measures” to thwart Baku’s alleged plans. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry dismissed Pashinian’s appeal and said that Yerevan should end its “military-political provocations.” Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL Copyright (c) 2023 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc. 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.