Category: 2021

 11:30,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 10, ARMENPRESS. 347 new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Armenia in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 342,115, the ministry of healthcare reports.

6416 COVID-19 tests were conducted on December 9.

1208 patients have recovered in one day. The total number of recoveries has reached 324,224.

The death toll has risen to 7767 (20 death cases have been registered in the past one day).

The number of active cases is 8652.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 11:55,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 10, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan met on December 9 with Secretary General of the International Organization of la Francophonie Louise Mushikiwabo on the sidelines of his working visit in Paris, the foreign ministry reports.

The sides discussed the implementation process of the initiatives within Armenia’s chairmanship at the Organization.

Ararat Mirzoyan and Louise Mushikiwabo discussed the prospects of strengthening the Armenia-OIF cooperation, particularly through the implementation of programs in economy and youth fields.

FM Mirzoyan said that Armenia supports Louise Mushikiwabo’s proposed reforms agenda of the Organization.

Louise Mushikiwabo presented to the Armenian FM the report of the OIF mission which observed the 2021 June parliamentary elections of Armenia.

The sides then exchanged ideas about the preparation works ahead of the 18th Francophonie summit to be held in Tunis in 2022.

FM Mirzoyan also presented a number of issues relating to regional stability and security to the OIF Secretary General.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 14:09,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 10, ARMENPRESS. Development of the domestic market of the Eurasian Economic Union must become one of the main directions of the EAEU mutual partnership, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan said at the online session of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council.

“The development of a domestic market without barriers would contribute to the economic growth of our countries, the increase of competitiveness, the activeness of business, the creation of additional jobs and cut in unemployment. The activation and deepening of integration processes would contribute to structural transformations of the economies of the Union’s states and their upgrading and diversification which is important in conditions of fluctuations of global prices, deepening of global economic crises”, Pashinyan said.

According to him, the service trade, which has become a dynamic component in the modern global economy, is a new impetus for export diversification.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 14:46,

Last updated – 15:33 

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 10, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijani military units attacked an Armenian Armed Forces position in the eastern direction of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border around 12:00, December 10.

The Ministry of Defense said that the Armenian military’s countermeasures repelled the attack. An unspecified number of Azerbaijani troops were neutralized.

The firefight continued as of 14:30.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 15:27,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 10, ARMENPRESS. The Azerbaijani armed forces, who infiltrated into Armenia’s sovereign territory, must be withdrawn, Chairman of the Armenian parliamentary standing committee on foreign affairs Eduard Aghajanyan said.

Asked whether the Azerbaijani troops must be withdrawn from the territory of the Lake Sev in case of demarcation and delimitation, the lawmaker said at this moment it’s too early to discuss the concrete positioning of troops as a result of border demarcation and delimitation process.

“Armenia has repeatedly announced at an official level that the Azerbaijani armed forces infiltrated into the Armenian sovereign territory: these statements are based on concrete facts. Those armed forces and persons must be withdrawn from the sovereign territory of Armenia, that is unequivocal”, he said.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 15:31,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 10, ARMENPRESS. One Armenian serviceman was killed in action and several others were wounded in the latest Azerbaijani attack, the Ministry of Defense said.

The Ministry of Defense did not elaborate further and said it would give additional information soon.

As of 14:30 the firefight had stopped, it added.

“The situation is under the full control of the Armenian Armed Forces,” the ministry said.

Azerbaijani military units attacked an Armenian Armed Forces position in the eastern direction of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border around 12:00, December 10.

The Ministry of Defense said that the Armenian military’s countermeasures repelled the attack. An unspecified number of Azerbaijani troops were neutralized.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 17:15,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 10, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijan deliberately and regularly is provoking incidents in the line of contact with Artsakh in order to keep the population in fear, force them to migrate, State Minister of Artsakh Artak Beglaryan told a press conference in Armenpress, stating that the people of Artsakh have a strong resistance, and works are being done to improve the security guarantees.

“We still have a lot to do. Before the war, the line of contact with Azerbaijan was around 200 km long, but now it is 500 km, most of which is a new frontline. Another problem is that the positions of the Azerbaijani armed forces are close to our settlements. We have publicly proposed that the armed forces must be far from the settlements. This should be discussed by the international partners and mediators”, Beglaryan said.

The investigative mechanisms are very important, but are very weak, he said. “I think here all international partners and mediators need to act”, he stated.

Commenting on the recent incidents of murders of Artsakh people by the Azerbaijani servicemen, Beglaryan said that Azerbaijan even didn’t provide the name of the criminal of the latest incident in Shushi neither to the Artsakh authorities nor the Russian side.

“The Karabakh conflict must be solved with peaceful means based on the unconditional recognition of our rights, the people’s right to self-determination, the international recognition of the independence and the return of the occupied territories. These are the red lines which must be for the Armenians of Artsakh, Armenia and all over the world”, the State Minister said.

Beglaryan says it’s obvious that the conflict has no quick solution given Azerbaijan’s unconstructive behavior. Artsakh is inclined that the international security guarantees, including the presence of the peacekeepers must be termless, before the final settlement of the conflict.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 17:43,

YEREVAN, 10 DECEMBER, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 10 December, USD exchange rate up by 0.08 drams to 495.32 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 1.74 drams to 558.82 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.02 drams to 6.74 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 0.14 drams to 653.82 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price down by 117.24 drams to 28285.02 drams. Silver price down by 2.73 drams to 354.33 drams. Platinum price down by 13.49 drams to 15064.96 drams.

 18:11,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 10, ARMENPRESS. Anyone, especially an Armenian, can and should visit Artsakh only in agreement with the Artsakh authorities. The Azerbaijani authorities have nothing to do here, State Minister of Artsakh Artak Beglaryan said in a press conference at ARMENPRESS media hall, commenting on the announcements of Azerbaijan over the individuals who visited Artsakh.

“That’s totally unacceptable for us. Anyone, especially an Armenian, can and should visit Artsakh only in agreement with our Government. The Azerbaijani leadership has nothing to do here. Any Armenian official is free to visit Artsakh. I cannot say what démarches Azerbaijan is carrying out in return, but it is obvious that they are very nervous. If Azerbaijan wants to resolve the conflict, I think it must avoid these convulsions, it must accept that we have our rights, our own homeland”, Beglaryan said.

 18:31,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 10, ARMENPRESS. The first session of the "3 + 3" regional consulting platform was held in Moscow on December 10 with the participation of the Deputy Foreign Ministers of Russia, Armenia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, as well as the Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Foreign Ministry of Russia. It is noted that the Georgian representatives, who were also invited, refrained from participating in the meeting.

Prospects for the development of multilateral regional cooperation were discussed during the meeting. An agreement was reached to focus the work of the platform on the practical issues that are of interest to all its participants.

These include confidence-building measures, cooperation in the trade, economic, transport, cultural and humanitarian spheres, and response to common challenges and threats.

The representatives of the five countries expressed interest for Georgia to join the platform, for which the door remain open.

The further activities were discussed, with the possible joining of the sectoral ministries and departments. Deputy FM Vahe Gorgyan took part in the meeting from the Armenian side.