Author: Emil Lazarian

                                        Thursday, 
Putin Again Talks To Armenian, Azeri Leaders
Russia - Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev 
and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian make statements to the press after 
talks in Sochi, November 26, 2021.
Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed heightened tensions in 
Nagorno-Karabakh with the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan in separate phone 
calls on Thursday.
Putin phoned Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President 
Ilham Aliyev the day after the announcement of fresh face-to-face talks between 
them that will be hosted by the European Union’s top official, Charles Michel, 
in Brussels on April 6.
The Kremlin made no mention of the upcoming talks in its readout of the phone 
conversations.
“The development of the situation around Nagorno-Karabakh was discussed with an 
emphasis on solving practical problems to ensure security and stability in the 
region,” it said in a statement.
Putin stressed the importance of implementing Armenian-Azerbaijani agreements 
brokered by him during and after the 2020 war over Karabakh, added the statement.
Russia accused Azerbaijan of violating the ceasefire regime after Azerbaijani 
forces seized a village in eastern Karabakh and surrounding territory on March 
24. They reportedly withdrew from the village on Monday but continue to occupy 
nearby hills.
According to the Armenian government’s press office, Pashinian told Putin that 
the Azerbaijani side may be planning “new provocations” in Karabakh.
“The prime minister conveyed to the Russian president the Armenian side's 
expectation that the Russian peacekeeping contingent would take measures to 
remove the invading Azerbaijani army units from the area of responsibility of 
the Russian peacekeeping contingent,” read a statement released by the office.
“The leaders of the two countries agreed to take measures to quickly resolve the 
situation,” it added without elaborating.
Putin and Pashinian spoke twice by phone late last week.
Both Pashinian and Aliyev said earlier on Thursday that they plan to discuss in 
Brussels a comprehensive “peace treaty” between their nations. The Azerbaijani 
leader said he is encouraged by Yerevan’s apparent readiness to accept the key 
terms of such a deal offered by Baku.
Karabakh Armenians Rule Out Return To Azeri Control
        • Artak Khulian
Nagorno Karabakh - Davit Babayan, the Nagorno Karabakh foreign minister, talks 
to RFE/RL, Stepanakert, 
Nagorno-Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian leadership and population will never agree to 
live under Azerbaijani rule, a senior official in Stepanakert reiterated on 
Thursday.
“This is the red line which we will never cross regardless of anything,” Davit 
Babayan, the Karabakh foreign minister, told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. 
“Whatever promises Azerbaijan could give us, those promises won’t be serious, 
they won’t be fulfilled.”
“For us, there is no chance of survival within Azerbaijan,” he said. “We would 
either be turned into a concentration camp or there would be a genocide and 
ethnic cleansing of Armenians.”
Therefore, the Karabakh Armenians will not even discuss any status of their 
region within Azerbaijan, added Babayan.
The remarks came as Armenia and Azerbaijan geared up for talks on a “peace 
treaty” meant to end their border disputes and the conflict over Karabakh. Prime 
Minister Nikol Pashinian said on Thursday that Yerevan is ready to formally 
recognize Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity through such a deal.
Other Armenian officials have made similar statements of late, prompting serious 
concern from opposition leaders and other government critics. The latter 
maintain that Pashinian’s government is ready to recognize Azerbaijani 
sovereignty over Karabakh.
Pashinian’s statement followed deadly fighting in Karabakh sparked by an 
Azerbaijani incursion into a village in Karabakh’s east. Azerbaijani forces 
fired at other Karabakh villages and blocked supplies of natural gas to the 
territory in early March.
The authorities in both Yerevan and Stepanakert say these actions are part of 
Baku’s efforts to bully the Karabakh Armenians and cause them to emigrate.
Babayan said that the Karabakh leadership is making “intensive” efforts to 
stabilize and improve the security situation with the help of Russian 
peacekeeping forces stationed in Karabakh.
“We must stay strong, make the right geopolitical choices and understand that we 
have no right to make mistakes at this historic moment,” he said.
Armenian Minister Arrested In Bribery Case
        • Naira Nalbandian
Armenia - Minister of Emergency Situations Andranik Piloyan.
Minister of Emergency Situations Andranik Piloyan was arrested on corruption 
charges late on Wednesday two days after law-enforcement officers raided his 
ministry’s headquarters in Yerevan.
Armenia’s Anti-Corruption Committee (ACC) said on Thursday that it also detained 
five other senior officials in an ongoing criminal investigation into “numerous 
cases” of bribery and other corrupt practices in the Ministry of Emergency 
Situations.
In a statement, the ACC said it charged Piloyan on three counts of large-scale 
bribery and asked a court to remand him in pre-trial custody.
In particular, the law-enforcement agency claimed that he received this year a 
hefty kickback in return for making decisions that benefited a private 
contractor. It did not elaborate.
The ACC said the minister was also bribed by an unnamed person who was appointed 
to a senior position in the ministry’s Rescue Service in January.
A total of eight individuals have been indicted in the corruption probe so far, 
the ACC statement said, adding that ten others currently have the status of 
suspects. The detainees include an adviser to Piloyan.
It was not clear whether the minister will confess to the accusations or protest 
his innocence in the court.
The ACC and the National Security Service (NSS) jointly searched some offices in 
the ministry building in Yerevan on Monday. Piloyan went on a two-week vacation 
hours after the raid.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian commented on Piloyan’s arrest during a weekly 
cabinet meeting on Thursday. He said it underscores his government’s “zero 
tolerance of corruption.”
Piloyan is a retired army general who participated in the 2020 war with 
Azerbaijan. During the six-week hostilities, he received Armenia’s highest state 
award, the title of National Hero, for leading what Pashinian called a 
successful Armenian counteroffensive southwest of Nagorno-Karabakh.
The award proved highly controversial seeing as Azerbaijani forces continued 
their advance in that area in the following days.
Pashinian went on to appoint Piloyan as minister in November 2020 less than two 
weeks after a Russian-brokered ceasefire that stopped the devastating war.
Pashinian Says Ready For Peace Deal With Azerbaijan
Armenia -- PM Pashinian Addresses the Government. 31March, 2022
Armenia stands ready to negotiate a comprehensive peace deal with Azerbaijan 
based on mutual recognition of each other’s territorial integrity, Prime 
Minister Nikol Pashinian insisted on Thursday.
Pashinian at the same time accused Baku of seeking to fully reconquer 
Nagorno-Karabakh and drive out its ethnic Armenian population.
“I once again express Armenia’s readiness to sign a peace treaty with 
Azerbaijan. Armenia is prepared for an immediate start of peace negotiations,” 
he said in a lengthy speech delivered at the start of a weekly session of his 
cabinet.
Pashinian indicated that the issue will be high on the agenda of his talks with 
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev that will be hosted by European Council 
President Charles Michel in Brussels on April 6.
“I hope to discuss and agree at that meeting with the president of Azerbaijan 
all the issues related to the start of peace talks,” he said.
Yerevan formally proposed such negotiations on Monday. Baku responded by saying 
the Armenian-Azerbaijani peace deal must be based on five elements that were 
presented by it to Yerevan on March 10. Those include, among other things, a 
mutual commitment to recognize each other’s territorial integrity.
Pashinian said the Armenian side has already notified Baku that “there is 
nothing unacceptable for us in Azerbaijan’s proposals.”
“This reply means that the principle of mutual recognition of territorial 
integrity and inviolability of the borders is acceptable to Armenia,” he 
stressed.
Similar statements made by Pashinian and members of his political team earlier 
this month drew strong condemnation from Armenian opposition leaders. The latter 
maintain that Pashinian’s administration is ready to recognize Azerbaijani 
sovereignty over Karabakh.
Meanwhile, Aliyev expressed the hope that the upcoming talks in Brussels will 
pave the way for the signing of the Armenian-Azerbaijani treaty “as early as 
possible.” He was reported to describe Armenian leaders’ responses to the 
Azerbaijani proposals on the peace deal as “good news.”
Meeting with Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau in Baku, Aliyev also 
reiterated that Azerbaijan’s victory in the 2020 war with Armenia put an end to 
the Karabakh conflict. “The conflict is already settled,” he said.
Pashinian complained on Thursday that despite his conciliatory stance Azerbaijan 
is ratcheting up tensions in Karabakh and trying to “legitimize” a possible 
large-scale assault not only on the disputed territory but also Armenia. He 
pointed to last week’s Azerbaijani incursion into a Karabakh village, saying 
that it was part of Baku’s broader attempts to “terrorize” the Karabakh 
Armenians and force them to flee the territory.
“The apparent purpose of these actions is to finish the policy of ethnic 
cleansing of Karabakh’s Armenians,” charged the Armenian premier.
Azerbaijani troops captured the Karabakh village of Parukh and advanced towards 
a strategic mountain to the west of it on March 24, meeting with stiff 
resistance from Karabakh Armenian forces. Russian peacekeepers stationed in 
Karabakh intervened to stop deadly fighting there.
Azerbaijani forces reportedly withdrew from the village on Monday. But they 
continue to occupy a section of the Karaglukh mountain.
Pashinian, Aliyev To Meet Again In Brussels
        • Heghine Buniatian
Belgium - European Council President Charles Michel meets with Armenian Prime 
Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev, Brussels, 
December 14, 2021.
European Council President Charles Michel will host fresh talks between the 
leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Brussels next week, it was announced on 
Wednesday.
A spokesman for M
ichel gave no details of the agenda of his trilateral meeting with Prime 
Minister Nikol Pashinian and President Ilham Aliyev, saying only that it is 
scheduled for April 6.
A senior European diplomat, who asked not to be identified, told RFE/RL that the 
three men will review recent developments in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone 
and continue discussions on achieving regional peace and stability. They will 
specifically focus on practical modalities of opening transport links between 
Armenia and Azerbaijan, said the diplomat.
Michel and French President Emmanuel Macron held a virtual meeting with Aliyev 
and Pashinian on February 4. The video conference came about two months after 
Pashinian’s two face-to-face talks with Aliyev which were separately hosted by 
Macron and Michel in Brussels.
The fresh meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders was announced two days 
after Armenia offered to “immediately” start negotiations with Azerbaijan on a 
bilateral peace treaty sought by Baku. The offer in turn followed deadly 
fighting in Karabakh sparked by an Azerbaijani incursion into a local village 
and surrounding territory.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that Baku is prepared for such 
negotiations but expects the Armenian side to take unspecified “concrete steps” 
first. It said the Armenian-Azerbaijani peace deal must be based on five 
elements that were presented by it to Yerevan on March 10. Those include, among 
other things, a mutual commitment to recognize each other’s territorial 
integrity.
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.
 

                                        Wednesday, 
Pashinian, Aliyev To Meet Again In Brussels
        • Heghine Buniatian
Belgium - European Council President Charles Michel meets with Armenian Prime 
Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev, Brussels, 
December 14, 2021.
European Council President Charles Michel will host fresh talks between the 
leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Brussels next week, it was announced on 
Wednesday.
A spokesman for Michel gave no details of the agenda of his trilateral meeting 
with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and President Ilham Aliyev, saying only that 
it is scheduled for April 6.
A senior European diplomat, who asked not to be identified, told RFE/RL that the 
three men will review recent developments in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone 
and continue discussions on achieving regional peace and stability. They will 
specifically focus on practical modalities of opening transport links between 
Armenia and Azerbaijan, said the diplomat.
Michel and French President Emmanuel Macron held a virtual meeting with Aliyev 
and Pashinian on February 4. The video conference came about two months after 
Pashinian’s two face-to-face talks with Aliyev which were separately hosted by 
Macron and Michel in Brussels.
The fresh meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders was announced two days 
after Armenia offered to “immediately” start negotiations with Azerbaijan on a 
bilateral peace treaty sought by Baku. The offer in turn followed deadly 
fighting in Karabakh sparked by an Azerbaijani incursion into a local village 
and surrounding territory.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that Baku is prepared for such 
negotiations but expects the Armenian side to take unspecified “concrete steps” 
first. It said the Armenian-Azerbaijani peace deal must be based on five 
elements that were presented by it to Yerevan on March 10. Those include, among 
other things, a mutual commitment to recognize each other’s territorial 
integrity.
Freed Mayor Allowed To Run Armenian Town For Now
        • Naira Nalbandian
Armenia - Goris Mayor Arush Arushanian speaks with journalists after his release 
from custody, March 28, 2022.
Prosecutors confirmed on Wednesday that the opposition-linked mayor of the 
southeastern Armenian town of Goris can continue to perform his duties for now 
despite a court ruling that bars him from holding public office.
Arush Arushanian received a suspended six-month prison sentence and was set free 
on Monday nine months after being arrested on a string of charges strongly 
denied by him.
Arushanian was acquitted of vote buying but found guilty of assault and abuse of 
power at the end of a four-month trial. A court in Goris also ruled that he 
cannot hold any local government posts for the next five years.
Arushanian’s lawyers said that he will appeal against the verdict. They insisted 
that the 31-year-old can continue to serve as Goris mayor pending a higher 
court’s ruling on the appeal.
A spokesman for Armenia’s Office of the Prosecutor-General, Gor Abrahamian, 
confirmed that. “There are no obstacles right now given the fact that the 
judicial act has not yet taken effect,” he told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Arushanian returned to work hours after walking free in the courtroom. A 
statement posted on the website of the Goris municipality said that he will 
chair a session of the municipal council scheduled for April 5.
The council elected last October is empowered to appoint and dismiss the head of 
the local community comprising Goris and surrounding villages.
An opposition bloc led by Arushanian controls 13 of the 21 seats in the council. 
It will therefore be in a position to install another mayor if Arushanian’s 
removal from office is upheld by higher courts.
Arushanian was one of the four heads of major communities of Syunik province who 
were arrested shortly after the June 2021 parliamentary elections on various 
charges rejected by them as politically motivated. They all demanded Prime 
Minister Nikol Pashinian’s resignation before joining the main opposition 
Hayastan alliance set up by former President Robert Kocharian in the run-up to 
the snap polls.
Armenian Central Bank Sees Serious Fallout From Ukraine War
        • Robert Zargarian
Armenia - Export-bound brandy stored at a distillery in Yerevan.
Armenian economic growth will slow down considerably and inflation will remain 
high this year due to knock-on effects of Western sanctions imposed on Russia 
over its invasion of Ukraine, according to the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA).
In a report released this week, the CBA said that the country’s economy now 
faces “high uncertainty and significant risks.” It predicted sizable drops in 
Armenian exports to Russia and multimillion-dollar remittances from Armenians 
working there.
Russia is Armenia’s number one trading partner and export market, with bilateral 
trade totaling $2.6 billion last year. The Russian ruble has depreciated sharply 
since the start of the assault on Ukraine on February 24.
The CBA report says that Russian-owned companies operating in Armenia will 
experience major “difficulties and disruptions” because of the crippling 
sanctions against Russia.
One such company, the Teghut mining giant, suspended operations on March 14. It 
employs 1,100 people and was Armenia’s tenth largest corporate taxpayer in 2021.
Armenia - A newly constructed ore-processing plant at the Teghut copper mine, 
20Dec2014.
The CBA already cut its economic growth forecast for 2022 from 5.3 percent to 
1.6 percent in mid-March. A senior official from the International Monetary Fund 
forecast a virtually identical growth rate.
The CBA also raised its benchmark interest rate by 1.25 percentage points, 
citing increased inflationary pressures on the Armenian economy.
“A high inflationary environment is expected to persist in the months to come,” 
reads the bank’s latest report.
Food prices in the country went up by an average of almost 13 percent last year, 
reflecting a global trend. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian warned on March 3 that 
fallout from the conflict in Ukraine will push them up further.
Armenia imports a large part of its wheat, cooking oil and other basic 
foodstuffs from Russia. Many of its citizens are already struggling to cope with 
the increased cost of living.
“What should pensioners do?” said one middle-aged woman in Yerevan. “Things are 
getting worse by the day.”
Armenian Judge’s Arrest Extended
        • Marine Khachatrian
Armenia-Judge Boris Bakhshiyan,undated
An Armenian court has extended by one month the pre-trial arrest of a judge 
prosecuted on what he sees as politically motivated charges.
Boris Bakhshiyan was taken into custody on February 7 two weeks after granting 
bail to a jailed opposition figure. He rejects accusations leveled against him 
as government retribution for that decision.
The accusations stem from another decision which Bakhshiyan made during an 
ongoing trial presided over by him. Prosecutors claim that the 36-year-old judge 
illegally ordered the arrest of one of the defendants in that trial.
The Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), a state body overseeing Armenian courts, 
allowed Bakhshiyan’s arrest despite an uproar from many lawyers and the 
leadership of Armenia’s Union of Judges.
Bakhshiyan’s lawyer, Arsen Sardarian, told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service on 
Wednesday that a Yerevan court has agreed to allow investigators to hold his 
client in detention for one more month, until May 7.
In recent months, opposition groups, legal experts and some judges have 
repeatedly accused the Armenian government of seeking to increase its influence 
on courts under the guise of judicial reforms. The authorities deny this, 
insisting that the reforms are aimed at increasing judicial independence.
Armenia’s parliament controlled by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s party 
approved in February legislation that made it easier for law-enforcement 
authorities to indict and arrest judges.
Armenian Ministry Raided In Corruption Probe
        • Marine Khachatrian
Armenia - The building of the Armenian Ministry of Emergency Situations, Yerevan.
Law-enforcement officers have raided the Armenian Ministry of Emergency 
Situations as part of an apparent investigation into corruption.
The officers of the Anti-Corruption Committee (ACC) and the National Security 
Service (NSS) jointly searched at least one office at the ministry headquarters 
in Yerevan on Monday. It remains unclear whether anyone was arrested or charged 
as a result.
Neither law-enforcement agency has commented on the extraordinary operation so 
far. The ACC said on Wednesday that it will make an official statement soon.
A spokeswoman for the ministry told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that the 
investigators searched the office of Ashot Hakobian, an adviser to Minister of 
Emergency Situations Andranik Piloyan. Hakobian did not report for work on 
Wednesday despite not being on vacation, she said without commenting further.
Piloyan went on a two-week vacation hours after the raid. He was reportedly 
questioned by the ACC on Tuesday. The minister has still not publicly commented 
on the corruption probe.
Piloyan is a retired army general who participated in the 2020 war with 
Azerbaijan. During the six-week hostilities, he received Armenia’s highest state 
award, the title of National Hero, for leading what Prime Minister Nikol 
Pashinian called a successful Armenian counteroffensive southwest of 
Nagorno-Karabakh.
The award proved highly controversial seeing as Azerbaijani forces continued 
their advance in that area in the following days.
Pashinian went on to appoint Piloyan as minister in November 2020 less than two 
weeks after a Russian-brokered ceasefire that stopped the devastating war.
The Ministry of Emergency Situations will be run by Piloyan’s first deputy, 
Armen Pambukhchian, for now. Pambukhchian is a member of the ruling Civil 
Contract party.
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.