Author: Emil Karabekian

 19:41,

YEREVAN, MARCH 15, ARMENPRESS. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan responded to the interview of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan, stating that “if Armenia also takes the issue of normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the establishment of peace in the region seriously, it should present its concrete proposals”, ARMENPRESS reports the press service of MFA Azerbaijan told APA agency.

“There is no need to reiterate our position, which we have stated many times. Taking into account the importance of the normalization of relations between the two countries and the chances of building a post-conflicr peace in the region, Azerbaijan has put forward relevant proposals and is ready to move in that direction. If Armenia also takes this issue seriously, it should present its concrete proposals, thereby demonstrating its readiness to start substantive talks,” the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

In an interview with ARMENPRESS on March 15, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan referred to the 5 points presented by the Azerbaijani side on starting negotiations on a peace treaty, emphasizing first of all that the negotiations on a peace treaty should be held without preconditions.

As for the main proposals, the two countries, having signed the “Agreement on the Establishment of Cooperation of Independent States” on December 8, 1991, in fact have already recognized each other’s territorial integrity and accepted that they have no territorial claims towards each other.

It should be noted that the provisions mentioned in the proposal do not fully reflect the whole agenda of the existing problems. It is vital for the Armenian side that the rights and freedoms of the Armenians of Artsakh are clearly guaranteed, and the status of Nagorno-Karabakh is finally clarified. For us, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is not a territorial issue, but a matter of rights”, FM Mirzoyan had said earlier today.

On March 11, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov announced that Baku had sent to Yerevan a five-point document on normalization of relations and is waiting for a response. On March 14, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan made public the contents of the document, noting that Baku is ready to negotiate a peace treaty with Yerevan on the condition that Armenia will accept these “five basic principles.”

Below are the 5 points of the Azerbaijani document:

– Mutual recognition of sovereignty, territorial integrity, inviolability of borders, political independence from each other,

– Mutual confirmation of renouncing territorial claims against each other; legal obligation and other encroachments in the future;

– The Parties undertake to refrain from threatening each other’s security in interstate relations, from threatening political independence and territorial integrity, as well as from other circumstances which are contrary to the Charter of the United Nations;

– Demarcation of the state border, establishment of diplomatic relations,

– Opening of roads and communications, establishment of other relevant communications and cooperation in other areas of mutual interest.

Despite Baku’s loud declarations of readiness for normalization of relations and peace in the region, Azerbaijan is doing the exact opposite in practice, continuing to destroy the Armenian historical and cultural heritage of Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions, while escalating tensions on both the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and in Artsakh. Last week, the authorities of the Artsakh Republic reported that the Azerbaijani armed forces fired on a number of Armenian settlements, in particular, the communities of Khramort, Nakhichevanik of Askeran region and Khnushinak and Karmir Shuka of Martuni region. On March 10, a resident of the village of Khramort was wounded by Azerbaijani fire while working in the garden of his house.

 16:39, 2 March, 2022

YEREVAN, MARCH 2, ARMENPRESS. The European Union has disconnected Russian banks subject to sanctions from SWIFT.

Seven major lenders in the country have been targeted, including VTB, Rossiya, Otkritie, Novikombank, Promsvyazbank, Sovcombank, and VEB.RF, RT reported citing the EU’s official journal.

Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, is not on the list for now.

The banks now have 10 days to stop their SWIFT operations. According to a senior EU official, those on the list were selected based on their connections to the Russian government.

“All these banks that we have listed under SWIFT… are all [included] based on their connection to the state and the implicit connection to the war effort. We have not gone for a blanket ban across the whole banking system,” the official said.

Neither Sberbank nor Gazprombank has so far been targeted, as they are the main channels for payments for Russian oil and gas, which have not yet faced EU penalties. The two will be subject to other sanctions, however, the official stated.

The Russian delegation leaves for talks with the representatives of Ukraine

 18:49, 2 March, 2022

YEREVAN, MARCH 2, ARMENPRESS. The Russian delegation has left for the place of meeting with the representatives of Ukraine for negotiations, ARMENPRESS reports, citing TASS, BelTa agency informed, without providing details.

According to earlier reports, the second round of consultations will be held in the area of Belovezhskaya Pushcha in the Brest region of Belarus.

 11:54, 25 February, 2022

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 25, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan met with President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in Nur-Sultan on the sidelines of his working visit, the PM’s Office said.

“I am very happy to see you, dear Mr. Prime Minister. The relations between Kazakhstan and Armenia are steadily developing. This year we mark the 30^th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations, it’s a very important year. An open dialogue at the highest levels has been established between us, the parliamentary and cultural-humanitarian ties are developing. You know that we have the warmest feelings towards Armenia and the Armenian people, I personally have a great respect to you and the Armenian people. I think I know the history of your people not so badly, I highly appreciate their achievements in culture and other areas.

In practice, we are allies within the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Eurasian Economic Union, therefore I think that these type of mutual relations between our countries are the most optimal ones. As for Kazakhstan, we will continue working on that direction”, the President of Kazakhstan said.

In his turn the Armenian PM said: “Dear Mr. President, I am glad to meet you. This is our first face-to-face meeting this year, however, we talked by phone for many times. I am very happy that the normal life has been fully restored in Kazakhstan after the latest events. We are already discussing in the Eurasian Economic Union our further economic cooperation and the further development of the Eurasian economic space.

I want to note that I am happy that finally the crisis mechanisms of the Collective Security Treaty Organization started to work. You know that it has been the priority of Armenia’s chairmanship. We always thought and continue to think that the CSTO rapid crisis response mechanisms must operate normally. Unfortunately, Armenia has been in a situation when we believed that this mechanism must work, however, it didn’t take place, unfortunately. After that we became a chairing country in the CSTO and announced that it is one of our priorities. I am very happy that we managed to apply that mechanism when it was needed. I once again want to thank you for your warm words and hospitality”.

Various issues relating to the agenda of the Armenian-Kazakh relations, the integration processes were also discussed during the meeting.

 16:02,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 21, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan received the delegation led by Member of the European Parliament, Vice President of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly Andrius Kubilius, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a press release.

PM Pashinyan welcomed the organization of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly bureau and committee sessions in Yerevan and noted that these are important platforms for developing cooperation and dialogue. The PM underscored that the European Union is one of the important partners for Armenia and stressed the existing partnership in the effective implementation of the democratic reforms. Pashinyan said that the agenda of developing democracy is one of the priorities of the Armenian government and that the steps in this direction will be consistent and continuous.

Vice President of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly Andrius Kubilius emphasized the fact of effective democratic reforms in Armenia and expressed hope that the Armenia-EU cooperation will continue to develop and strengthen.

Views were exchanged around regional and international security and stability issues.

Prime Minister Pashinyan presented Armenia’s position around the developments in the region, unblocking of the connection routes, delimitation and demarcation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and the Armenia-Turkey dialogue.

PM Pashinyan also addressed the results and agreements of the meetings in Brussels mediated by the President of the European Council and the President of France, as well as the February 4 quadripartite video-conference.

PM Pashinyan underscored the need for ensuring access of the UNESCO mission and international humanitarian organizations into the Nagorno Karabakh conflict zone with the purpose of preserving the Armenian historical-cultural and religious heritage.

 09:54, 16 February, 2022

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 16, ARMENPRESS. Shooting exercises will be carried out in the Republic of Artsakh in February-May 2022, the Security Council said in a statement.

“In order to improve the military skills of the citizens of the Republic of Artsakh, shooting exercises will be conducted in February-May 2022 at the initiative of Secretary of the Security Council Vitaly Balasanyan. The exercises will be carried out based on the material-technical base of the Defense Army”, the statement says.

People working at public administration system, as well as major companies will take part in the trainings.

The Security Council staffers have already participated in the exercises.