Category: 2021

 13:30,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. The Ministry of Defense is denying media reports which claimed that during the November 14 Azerbaijani attempts to advance into Armenia from the eastern border the Armenian military had taken 6 Azerbaijani troops captive but then secretly returned them.

“This has absolutely nothing to do with reality,” the Ministry of Defense told ARMENPRESS when asked to comment. “It is more than obvious that in such a situation the Armenian side would at least conduct an adequate exchange of captives.”

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 13:51,

Last updated: 16:13 (GMT+4)

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. An unspecified number of Armenian citizens are among 380 people who are being evacuated from Afghanistan by the Russian military, TASS reported citing the Russian Ministry of Defense.

According to the report, three Russian IL-76 military transport planes are en route to Afghanistan to evacuate more than 380 people – citizens of Russia, as well as other CSTO members – Belarus, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. The evacuees include also Ukrainian and Afghan nationals.

The planes are carrying more than 36 tons of humanitarian cargo.

Updates: 16:13 (GMT+4) The Armenian foreign ministry reported that according to preliminary information there are two Armenian citizens in Afghanistan. 

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 15:16,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin arrived in Armenia to participate in the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council meeting in Yerevan November 18-19.

PM Mishustin was greeted at the airport by the Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan.

The heads of government of Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, as well as the Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission Mikhail Myasnikovich are also already in Yerevan.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 15:30,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. Many issues in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict context remain unresolved, but there can be no military solution, Chargé d’Affaires of the US Mission to the OSCE Courtney Austrian said at the session of the OSCE Permanent Council.

She welcomed Ambassador Andrew Schofer, Ambassador Igor Khovaev, and Ambassador Brice Roquefeuil, Co-Chairs of the Minsk Group, together with the Chairpersonship’s Personal Representative, Ambassador Kasprzyk, to the Permanent Council, stating the United States attaches great importance to their continued work. 

“We are committed to helping the sides find comprehensive solutions to all remaining issues related to or resulting from the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. We thank all of you, including the head of the High-Level Planning Group, for your astute reports and updates”, Courtney Austrian said. “Since your last appearance at the Permanent Council in November 2020, the situation on the ground had stabilized but remained fragile. This week underscored that fragility. We regret that Armenian and Azerbaijani troops clashed along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border and that this violence resulted in casualties. These recent events give fresh urgency to the need for a comprehensive settlement. We call on both Armenia and Azerbaijan to uphold their ceasefire commitments and take immediate steps to deescalate tensions, as well as to refrain from inflammatory rhetoric and provocative actions and or statements”.

She encouraged the sides to build on the progress made during the joint meetings of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan held under the auspices of the Co-Chairs in New York and Paris, by continuing to engage in direct dialogue aimed at contributing to security, stability, and prosperity in the region. “We also urge the sides to investigate all allegations of human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law”, she added.

Courtney Austrian welcomed Ambassador Kasprzyk’s and his team’s efforts to promote transparency and confidence among the sides.

“Many issues in the conflict context remain unresolved, but there can be no military solution. The United States is committed to working with the sides to find a lasting and peaceful resolution based on the principles, recognized by all participating States, of non-use or threat of force, territorial integrity, and equal rights and self-determination of peoples, as embraced in the Helsinki Final Act”, she said.

 15:38,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. No “significant incidents” have taken place at the eastern border of Armenia as of 14:00 November 18 and the situation is under the control of the Armenian military, the Armenian Unified Information Center reported.

Commenting on the videos on border clashes disseminated online in the recent hours, the agency said that the videos are constantly studies by relevant authorities. “The events seen in the videos which have been circulating so far have taken place earlier.”

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 15:43,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan had a meeting today with Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan Akylbek Japarov, Pashinyan’s Office told Armenpress.

Akylbek Japarov arrived in Armenia for participation to the session of the Eurasian Inter-governmental Council on November 18-19.

“Welcome in Armenia. I would like to personally congratulate you on your appointment as the Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan. I hope and I am confident that with joint efforts we will manage to continue developing the relations between our countries.

Of course, we participate in the activities of common organizations, that is the Eurasian Economic Union, the Commonwealth of Independent States, our countries are members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization.

And of course, our bilateral relations are very important for us, and we highly appreciate them. I hope we will manage to develop also these relations and especially boost the commercial ties. Once again congratulations and welcome in Armenia”, Pashinyan told the Kyrgyz PM.

In turn the Kyrgyz PM thanked Pashinyan for the welcome and said: “The level of commercial relations between our countries was not so perfect in the past two years under the conditions of the pandemic, but the rates of the past 6-9 months show that we are starting to boost them. However, the overall volume of the trade turnover, so to speak, is small.

I would like to discuss with you the trade-economic cooperation and issues relating to our partnership in the organizations you mentioned, both in the economy and the CSTO in order to be able to assist one another both in difficult and good times”.

The officials, then, continued discussing the agenda of the Armenian-Kyrgyz relations and the cooperation development prospects.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan