Author: Emil Lazarian

 14:05,

YEREVAN, MARCH 26, ARMENPRESS. State Minister of Artsakh Artak Beglaryan expressed hope that the Azerbaijani troops will pull back through Russia’s efforts and that Azerbaijan will stop violations against the security of the people of Artsakh and Russia’s guarantees.

“From midday March 25 until the morning of March 26 there haven’t been any changes of positions along the frontline of Artsakh, and the Azerbaijani armed forces remain in the village of Parukh and on one side of the adjacent Karaglukh height, and a short while ago they made an unsuccessful attack attempt against our military unit,” Beglaryan said in a statement on social media.

Beglaryan said the Artsakh military is taking appropriate warning and suppressive measures to neutralize potential threats.

He said the Russian peacekeepers’ posts continue to function in Parukh and Khramort, and that “the Russian side made significant efforts for ensuring the ceasefire regime in its area of responsibility.”

“We expect that through Russian efforts the Azerbaijani troops will pull back to their initial positions and won’t make more violations against the security of the people of Artsakh and the Russian Federation’s guarantees. We stand firmly in our homeland and we are ready to withstand whatever challenges may come,” Beglaryan said.

On March 24-25 the Azerbaijani troops attacked Artsakh military positions and invaded the Parukh village.

Azeri drone strikes killed 3 Artsakh troops and wounded 15 others.

 16:33,

YEREVAN, MARCH 26, ARMENPRESS. The international community must take practical and targeted steps to prevent the attempts of destabilizing the situation in South Caucasus, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. At the same time, it added that it expects that the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno Karabakh will take concrete and visible steps to resolve the situation to not allow new deaths and combat operations.

“The recent statements issued by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defense of Azerbaijan once again blatantly indicate that the objective of Azerbaijan’s policy of systematic violence and terror against Nagorno-Karabakh is ethnic cleansing of the Armenian settlements in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Thereby, on March 24, the invasion of Azerbaijani armed forces to the village of Parukh in Nagorno-Karabakh was preceded by constant shelling of Armenian settlements and civilian infrastructure, as well as the threats from the Azerbaijani side voiced for several days by loudspeakers and directed to the Armenian population of Khramort village, neighbouring the village of Parukh, urging them to leave their settlements.

In parallel with this invasion and provocation of hostilities, amid the unprecedented cold weather, Azerbaijan has been disrupting the operation of a vitally important gas pipeline for several weeks, putting the people of Nagorno-Karabakh on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe. Moreover, in order to complete its pursuit of ethnic cleansing and to implement the policy of subjecting the Armenians of Artsakh to genocide with new vigor, Azerbaijan demands through its statements the withdrawal of the self-defense forces of the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The statements of the Foreign and Defense Ministries of Azerbaijan also prove the pre-planned manner of the aggression carried out by Azerbaijan in the area of responsibility of the peacekeeping forces of the Russian Federation in Nagorno-Karabakh, which is a blatant contempt for commitments obliged by the Trilateral Statement of November 9, 2020, including the provision for the sides to stop in their positions.

The international community is obliged to undertake effective and targeted steps to prevent the attempts of destabilizing the situation in the South Caucasus. At the same time, we emphasize the importance of implementing proper investigation of the actions of the peacekeeping contingent during the invasion of the units of Azerbaijani armed forces into the area of responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping forces in Nagorno Karabakh, as well as the peacekeeping contingent to issue a clear demand to Azerbaijani forces to return to their starting positions.

We also expect the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh to undertake concrete, visible steps to resolve the situation and prevent new casualties and hostilities,” the foreign ministry said in the statement.

 20:54,

YEREVAN, MARCH 26, ARMENPRESS. The Russian Ministry of Defense accused Azerbaijan in violating the 2020 November 9 trilateral statement on March 24-25.

In a statement released on March 26, the Russian Ministry of Defense said that on March 24 and 25 the Azerbaijani Armed Forces violated the terms of the 2020 November 9 Statement of the leaders of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan, entered the area of responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno Karabakh and installed an observation post. “4 strikes were carried out on the armed formations of Nagorno Karabakh with Bayraktar TB2 UAVs in the section of Parukh village,” the Russian military added.

The Russian Ministry of Defense further said that the Russian peacekeeping contingent’s command is taking measures to resolve the situation and return the troops to their initial positions. “The Azerbaijani side was urged to pull back its troops,” the Russian Ministry of Defense said.

On March 24-25 the Azerbaijani troops attacked Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) military positions and invaded the Parukh village.

Azeri drone strikes killed 3 Artsakh troops and wounded 15 others.

 17:17,

YEREVAN, MARCH 25, ARMENPRESS. President of Russia Vladimir Putin said he will hold a phone conversation with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan today, on March 25, TASS reported.

Putin announced the call during a meeting with laureates of culture and arts awards.

“I will have the opportunity to convey your warm words about Yerevan today to the Armenian Prime Minister, with whom I will have a phone talk,” TASS quoted Putin as saying at the event.

 21:59,

YEREVAN, 25 MARCH, ARMENPRESS. The gas supply to Nagorno Karabakh must be restored immediately, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Czech Republic to Armenia Bedřich Kopecký told Armenpress, referring to the statement of Peter Stano, Spokesman of the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell.

“The spokesperson of the High Representative Josep Borrell already gave the declaration in the name of all of us, that the gas supply should be immediately given to Nagorno Karabakh. We support clearly the common position of the European Union”, Bedřich Kopecký, the Czech Ambassador to Armenia said, commenting on the humanitarian situation in Artsakh.

The gas pipeline which is passing through the territory that is under Azerbaijani control was blown on March 8. After long negotiations, it was possible to restore it on March 18, but three days later gas supply again stopped as a result of the Azerbaijani intervention.

 16:44,

YEREVAN, MRCH 24, ARMENPRESS. Aircompany Armenia cancelled NGT936/935 Moscow-Yerevan-Moscow flights from March 24 to April 15 due to the European and American restrictions, the company’s deputy director Gevorg Khachatryan said on social media.

“NGT930/929 Yerevan-Moscow-Yerevan flights will be operated in accordance with the schedule. Negotiations and works are underway at the moment for finding alternative solutions. The additional information will be updated regularly. Thank you for your understanding”, he said.