Author: David Nargizian

                                        Saturday, 
Turkish, Armenian FMs Hold ‘Very Productive’ Talks
        • Lusine Musayelian
        • Tatevik Sargsian
Turkey - Foreign Ministers Mevlut Cavusoglu of Turkey and Ararat Mirzoyan of 
Armenia meet in Antalya, 
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu held on Saturday what he described as 
“very productive” talks with his visiting Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan 
which highlighted ongoing attempts to normalize Turkish-Armenian relations.
Cavusoglu and Mirzoyan met on the sidelines of an international security forum 
in the Turkish resort city of Antalya following two rounds of negotiations held 
by special envoys of the two neighboring states.
“We had a very productive and constructive meeting,” Cavusoglu told reporters.
“Everyone will benefit from the establishment of peace and stability in the 
region, and we will continue to make efforts in that direction,” he said. “I and 
Mr. Mirzoyan agreed on this issue.”
“During the meeting we reaffirmed the readiness of the two sides to continue, 
without any preconditions, the normalization process for the purpose of 
establishing [diplomatic] relations and opening border,” Mirzoyan said, for his 
part. “Our two representatives are working on this.”
Neither minister announced concrete understandings reached by them.
Mirzoyan last month voiced cautious optimism over the success of the 
Turkish-Armenian dialogue welcomed by the United States, the European Union and 
Russia.
Cavusoglu said on Saturday that Azerbaijan is also “content” with the dialogue. 
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov was also attending the Antalya 
conference.
Ankara has for decades linked the establishment of diplomatic relations with 
Yerevan and the opening of the Turkish-Armenian border to a resolution of the 
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict acceptable to Azerbaijan. Cavusoglu has repeatedly 
made clear that his government will coordinate the Turkish-Armenian 
normalization talks with Baku.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2022 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
 

                                        Tuesday, March 1, 2022
Macron, Pashinian Again Discuss Karabakh
FRANCE -- French President Emmanuel Macron (R) and Armenian Prime minister Nikol 
Pashinian give a press briefing following their working lunch at the Elysee 
palace in Paris, June 1, 2021
French President Emmanuel Macron and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian 
discussed the situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone in a phone call on 
Tuesday.
“The sides touched upon the situation around Nagorno-Karabakh and the 
strengthening of security and stability in the South Caucasus region,” reported 
the Armenian government’s press office. It did not give any details.
A statement released by the office said the two men also discussed the agenda of 
Pashinian’s upcoming visit to Paris which will be timed to coincide with a 
“French-Armenian cooperation forum” to be held there.
Macron and Pashinian further “exchanged views on processes taking place in the 
international arena,” the statement added in an apparent reference to the 
escalating war in Ukraine.
Like other Western leaders, Macron has strongly condemned Russia’s invasion of 
Ukraine and backed the European Union’s tough sanctions against Moscow. He 
phoned Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday in another attempt to stop the 
hostilities.
Armenia has still not officially reacted to the large-scaled military assault 
launched by its main ally.
Pashinian spoke with Putin by phone on Saturday. Official Russian and Armenian 
sources did not mention Ukraine in their statements on the call. The Kremlin 
said they continued to discuss “practical aspects” of implementing 
Armenian-Azerbaijani agreements brokered by Moscow during and after the 2020 war 
in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Macron too has sought to facilitate their implementation. As recently as on 
February 4, he and European Council President Charles Michel held a video 
conference with Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
The French presidential Elysee palace issued no statement on Macron’s latest 
call with Pashinian.
Yerevan Defends Opposition To Council Of Europe Action Against Russia
        • Naira Nalbandian
France – A session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. 
Strasbourg, October 2, 2008
A senior official in Yerevan defended on Tuesday Armenia’s decision to vote 
against the effective suspension of Russia’s membership in the Council of Europe 
over Moscow’s military assault on Ukraine.
The Council of Europe decided on February 25 to suspend all representatives of 
Russia from participation in the pan-European rights body’s decision-making 
Committee of Ministers and its Parliamentary Assembly (PACE).
“Suspension is not a final measure but a temporary one, leaving channels of 
communication open,” the Strasbourg-based organization said in a statement.
The decision was backed by 42 Council of Europe member states. Armenia was the 
only member state that joined Russia in opposing it.
Eduard Aghajanian, the pro-government chairman of the Armenian parliament 
committee on foreign relations, said Yerevan objected to the suspension because 
it stands for a “diplomatic” solution to the conflict in Ukraine.
“The more the diplomatic channels are severed, the lower the likelihood of 
resolving the issue by diplomatic means,” Aghajanian told reporters. “It is in 
this context that Armenia voted against.”
Armenia - Eduard Aghajanian talks to journalists, September 18, 2019.
Armenia’s stance was consistent with its voting record in the United Nations. 
Both the current and former Armenian governments had voted against UN General 
Assembly resolutions condemning Russia’s annexation of Crimea and upholding 
Ukrainian sovereignty over the Black Sea peninsula.
Russia has long been Armenia’s main military and political ally. The South 
Caucasus state’s dependence on Moscow for defense and security deepened further 
following the 2020 war with Azerbaijan.
Yerevan has still not officially reacted to the Russian invasion strongly 
condemned by the international community. In a statement issued on February 23, 
the day before the invasion began, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said it regards 
both Russia and Ukraine as “friendly countries” and hopes that they will resolve 
their conflict through “diplomatic dialogue.”
Tigran Abrahamian, a senior lawmaker representing the opposition bloc Pativ 
Unem, on Tuesday criticized the Armenian leadership for not openly backing 
Russia’s military action.
“If you are demonstrating neutrality and not showing any support for your ally 
Russia … you must accept that in another situation Russia will act [vis-à-vis 
Armenia] just like you do in the current circumstances,” said Abrahamian.
Russian Firms Relocating To Armenia, Says Minister (UPDATED)
        • Artak Khulian
Armenia - Economy Minister Vahan Kerobian speaks with journalists during a 
Russian-Armenian business forum in Yerevan, September 20, 2021.
Armenian Economy Minister Vahan Kerobian claimed on Tuesday that Russian tech 
companies are moving operations to Armenia to evade crippling Western sanctions 
imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
“About a dozen companies have already effectively relocated, while several 
others are on their way,” he said, adding that many others want to do the same.
Kerobian did not name any of those Russian firms or give details of their 
alleged relocation. He said only that most of them are involved in the tech 
sector and oriented towards “the Western markets.”
“The latest restrictions do not allow them to do the job from their country,” 
said the minister.
Russian tech professionals interviewed by RFE/RL’s Armenian Service confirmed 
Kerobian’s claims. One of them, Samson Karapetian, is a 25-year-old system data 
analyst who moved from Moscow to Yerevan recently.
“I have friends, not just ethnic Armenians, who are planning to move to 
Armenia,” said Karapetian. “There are also many companies that are fully 
relocating from Moscow to Yerevan because things are quieter and more stable 
here and the [Armenian] dram is more stable than the [Russian] ruble.”
GERMANY – A demonstration against Russia's military operation in Ukraine, at 
Rathenauplatz square in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, February 26, 2022.
An engineer working for a Russian tech firm has already booked flight to 
Yerevan. She said he decided to emigrate from Russia not only for economic 
reasons but also in protest against her country’s attack on Ukraine.
“Our company promised to help those employees who are planning to leave but they 
didn’t say how,” said the young woman, who did not want to be identified. “That 
is why I’m leaving on my own.”
Yevgeny, a Russian software engineer, is also planning to relocate in Armenia. 
He said he is confident about finding a job in the country's burgeoning 
information technology (IT) sector employing an estimated 20,000 people.
“My choice was between Armenia and Serbia,” he explained. “In both countries 
attitudes towards Russians are good … There is no language barrier and local 
cultures are understandable. But my guess is that Armenia is now more inclined 
to receive technology specialists.”
Armenia -- Young people at the annual Digitec Expo exhibition in Yerevan, 
October 6, 2018.
The sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union include 
measures aimed at restricting Russia’s access to high technology and 
complicating Russian companies’ financial transactions abroad.
Kerobian claimed that some Ukrainian firms are also showing an interest in 
setting up shop in Armenia but did not name them either. He said the Armenian 
Ministry of Economy has already set up a working group tasked with facilitating 
the relocation of Russian, Ukrainian and other foreign entities.
Gas Prices Raised In Armenia
        • Robert Zargarian
Armenia - The Public Services Regulatory Commission meets in Yerevan, November 
20, 2019
Armenia’s energy regulator on Tuesday raised the retail prices of natural gas by 
an average of 4.1 percent, a move that should further increase the cost of 
living in the country.
The national gas distribution network owned by Russia’s energy giant Gazprom 
requested sharper price rises last month. In particular, it sought an end to a 
more than 30 percent price discount enjoyed by low-income families.
In line with promises given by Armenian government officials, the Public 
Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC) said, however, that the preferential 
tariff for the poor will remain unchanged at 100 drams (21 U.S. cents) per cubic 
meter. The gas price for other households will rise by 3.4 percent, to 143.7 
drams per cubic meter, from April 1.
The PSRC approved more drastic tariff increases for businesses, including power 
plants, greenhouses and food-processing enterprises. Even so, they will continue 
to pay less than most individual consumers.
The PSRC chairman, Garegin Baghramian, acknowledged that the nominally 
independent regulatory body consulted with the government before setting the new 
gas tariffs. He said the authorities are keen to protect the poor and support 
Armenian firms using gas mostly imported from Russia.
Greenhouses, which now account for a sizable share of fruits and vegetables 
grown in Armenia, are especially dependent on the cost of gas. Some of their 
owners have warned that they will struggle to remain afloat if it does go up.
Armenia -- A large greenhouse belonging to the Spayka company, April 19, 2017.
The PSRC signaled impending price hikes in a statement released in December. It 
cited the need to repay $270 million in loans used for the recently completed 
modernization of the Metsamor nuclear plant. The commission also pointed to 
Armenia’s contractual obligation to enable Gazprom to recoup investments made in 
a large thermal-power plant located in the central town of Hrazdan.
The prices of electricity and drinking water were likewise raised in January 
following a highest inflation in many years recorded in the country. Analysts 
believe that that the PSRC’s latest decision will add to the rising living costs 
increasingly felt by Armenians.
“As if they paid us good salaries and pensions, they are now making gas more 
expensive,” complained one middle-aged man interviewed by RFE/RL’s Armenian 
Service in Yerevan.
“Of course, we don’t like it, especially now that there are no jobs,” said 
another Yerevan resident. “The state is wrong. It should not have raised the 
prices.”
International gas prices have skyrocketed over the past year. They are now much 
higher than Russia’s existing wholesale tariff for Armenia set at $165 per 
thousand cubic meters.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2022 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
 

NBC News
By Alexander Smith
Feb. 14, 2022
[“It may not be totally stupid and wrong if they say that ‘the East is
rising and the West is declining,’” one academic said.]
One defied diplomatic boycotts over its human rights record and
welcomed the world to its first Winter Olympics. The other massed
troops on its neighbor’s border and issued demands to the United
States and its allies.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin
stood side by side during the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter
Olympics on Feb. 4. Their joint appearance not only delivered the most
forthright display of Sino-Russian unity for decades, but also what
observers saw as the clearest signal yet that the two are intent on
shaping a new world order — one in which America’s postwar global
dominance is in retreat and autocratic regimes can thrive in the space
left behind.
“They see this as a post-Trump world where the Americans pulled out of
Afghanistan in disarray, they don’t seem to be able to deter the
Russians and they can’t even manage Covid,” said Steve Tsang, director
of the China Institute at SOAS University of London. “So it may not be
totally stupid and wrong if they say that ‘the East is rising and the
West is declining.’”
With democracy backsliding globally, the resolve of Russia and China
has been particularly strengthened by the perceived U.S. retreat from
the global stage and the erosion of its own values at home, he said.
This has created a void, in the eyes of some in Beijing and Moscow,
into which the two countries are only too happy to step.
That idea is not entirely new.
Since at least 2008, government officials and intellectual elites in
China and Russia have been predicting or advocating the end of
America’s postwar dominance. But a 5,000-word joint statement was the
first time these countries have together spelled out their vision so
comprehensively for this “multipolar” future.
“A trend has emerged towards redistribution of power in the world,”
the statement said. This “new era” will “ensure peace, stability and
sustainable development,” it added, rather than the “power politics”
and “bullying” of U.S. supremacy where “the weak fall prey to the
strong.”
Crucially, the end of American dominance would stop the West from
trying to “interfere in the internal affairs of other states,
infringing their legitimate rights and interests,” the statement said,
repeating a long-standing complaint used to push back against Western
calls for democratic, legal and economic reforms.
Without naming names, the message was clear: Washington does not have
the might or the right to act as the world’s police.
For China, this would mean less criticism over alleged human rights
abuses against its Uyghur Muslim minority, which the U.S. and others
say is being subjected to cultural genocide, its crackdown on freedoms
in Hong Kong, and its threats to invade Taiwan, all of which China
denies.
Russia wants to hush criticism of its meddling in other countries’
elections, its invasion of neighbors, such as Georgia and Ukraine, and
its silencing of political opposition and freedom of speech at home,
all of which it also denies.
The extent of American decline has been debated for years within
Chinese circles of power, said Kingsley Edney, who teaches politics
and Chinese international relations at the University of Leeds in
England. Articulating it so strongly last week is “maybe a sign and
this is something that’s becoming more of a consensus view within the
establishment,” he said.
Indeed, the rise of the East and the decline of the West have become a
common refrain for Xi and his top officials — and not without
evidence. China is projected to become the world’s largest economy
this decade and is building the equivalent of the French navy every
four years, German and French officials have said.
The same cannot be said for Russia, which, though punching above its
weight thanks to its large gas reserves and nuclear arsenal, is still
a midsize economic power whose gross domestic product is smaller than
that of Italy. But in China, it now has a powerful partner which last
week fell in behind several of its demands, including effectively
barring Ukraine from ever joining NATO.
Beijing is also now Moscow’s largest trading partner, with nearly $150
billion of imports and exports last year.
Some academics believe the world has already moved on from being
“unipolar” in which Washington’s dominance was built on what it likes
to call the “the rules-based order.” That system of values is
predicated, in theory at least, on democracy, human rights and
international free trade.
In reality, America has often contradicted these ideals, from its own
history of slavery and segregation to funding right-wing regime change
in Latin America. But it’s only relatively recently that foreign
powers have seriously questioned its economic, cultural and military
supremacy.
When the Soviet Union fell in 1991, some thinkers believed that the
Western liberal model had prevailed for good: Democracy had won a
global victory and it was only a matter of time before the
authoritarians of the world fell in line.
“It gave the United States the ability and the possibility to do
whatever it saw fit on the world stage,” Fyodor Lukyanov, a Russian
foreign policy analyst who heads a body that advises the Kremlin,
wrote last year. “There were no external restraints left.”
Fast forward 30 years — through financial crises, several heavily
criticized U.S.-led invasions and  administrations that departed from
many foreign policy norms — and Washington’s place in the world looks
quite different.
In 16 countries surveyed by the Pew Research Center in spring 2021, on
average just 17 percent of people said the U.S. was a good model for
democracy, and 57 percent said it used to be.
International faith in the Western model took a hit following the
U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the financial crisis of 2008.
But Donald Trump’s election dismayed long-standing allies and shocked
enemies in a way few previous events had done, particularly his
criticism of the very institutions on which postwar American power had
been built, and his promotion of the conspiracy theory that he won the
2020 presidential election, which he lost.
President Joe Biden was seen by many as a relief. But America’s
continued struggles to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, its chaotic
withdrawal from Afghanistan and the false belief of many Republicans
in Trump’s baseless claim that he won has only deepened these theories
of declinism abroad.
It’s unclear what the Sino-Russian partnership means for this standoff
on the fringes of Europe. China backed Russia’s demand that Ukraine
should never join NATO, but experts believe it would not want a war
because of its trading links to Kyiv.
Biden’s National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday an
invasion by Russia could begin “any day now,” something Moscow has
always denied despite its massive troop buildup.
With tensions at an all-time high and Russia holding military drills
in the nearby Black Sea, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met
with Putin on Monday and suggested that the Kremlin should continue
its diplomatic route with the U.S. and its allies. The Kremlin also
said Putin has approved his latest response in the back-and-forth with
the U.S. over Moscow’s sweeping security demands, which would reshape
the post-Cold War landscape in Europe.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Monday relations between
Moscow and Washington were “on the floor” despite a call between Biden
and Putin on Saturday.
Russia shifting so much military resource to its European flank is a
sign of how comfortable it feels leaving its east side relatively
undefended, according to Michael Kofman, the research program director
in the Russia Studies Program at CNA, a Washington-area think tank.
Many experts say it’s also a mistake to link the Ukraine crisis with
Taiwan, which China sees as a breakaway province and has threatened to
invade.  Taiwan is far more important to the U.S. than Ukraine both in
terms of trade and strategically, so it shouldn’t be seen through the
same foreign policy lens.
But Tsang at SOAS University says it’s certain that officials in
Beijing will be closely watching the Western response to Ukraine.
Though Washington and its European allies have stressed they are all
on the same page, there have been hints of division, with Germany in
particular favoring a more moderate approach toward the Kremlin.
“If the Western democratic response over Ukraine is in complete
disarray,” he said, “then it is not unreasonable for the Chinese to
assume that it would also be a shambles over Taiwan.”