Category: 2022

 19:25, 6 April, 2022

YEREVAN, APRIL 6, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Defense of Armenia Suren Papikyan received the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United Kingdom to the Republic of Armenia John Gallagher.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press servic eof the Defense MInsitry of Armenia, the Armenian Defense Minister presented the situation on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border and in Artsakh. Noting that the actions of the Azerbaijani side endanger regional stability and security, Suren Papikyan stressed the need for the international community to take measures to prevent the escalation of the situation.

“Ambassador Gallagher reaffirmed that the United Kingdom supports the efforts to reduce tensions and resolve the conflict peacefully through the OSCE Minsk Group,” the statement said.

The interlocutors also discussed issues related to bilateral cooperation in the field of defense, as well as cooperation in the fields of military education, training and peacekeeping capabilities.

Pashinyan stresses need for addressed reaction of intl. community to situation in Artsakh in a meeting with EU’s Michel

 18:53, 6 April, 2022

YEREVAN, APRIL 6, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who is in Brussels on a working visit, had a private conversation with the President of the European Council Charles Michel, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister.

The interlocutors referred to the trilateral meeting of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, the President of the European Council Charles Michel and the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev scheduled for today, attaching importance to the continuation of the dialogue.

Nikol Pashinyan presented the situation in Artsakh following the recent actions of the Azerbaijani units, the humanitarian issues and stressed the need for an addressed reaction of the international community.

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia and Charles Michel exchanged views on the implementation process of the agreements reached during the trilateral meeting held in Brussels on December 14 last year.

The parties expressed hope that today’s trilateral talks will be fruitful, which will contribute to stability and comprehensive solution of the issues.

Nikol Pashinyan and Charles Michel also discussed issues related to the Armenia-EU bilateral agenda, in particular, the implementation of the €2.6 billion economic and investment plan declared by the EU for Armenia.

 19:33, 6 April, 2022

YEREVAN, 6 APRIL, ARMENPRESS. Despite the negative impact of external factors, the trade turnover between the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union is growing dynamically, ARMENPRESS reports Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to Armenia Bolat Imanbayev said at a round table on “Opportunities for EEU Development: Prospects after the Declaration of an Economic War against Russia by  Collective West.”

According to the Ambassador of Kazakhstan, the mutually beneficial decisions are in line with the spirit of the EEU, which in the short period of its existence has shown a significant increase in mutual trade between the member states.

The Ambassador of the country, which chaired the EEU bodies last year, noted with satisfaction the dynamics of trade turnover growth in the union in 2021.

“Despite external factors and the quarantine restrictions, the volume of Kazakhstan’s trade with the EEU member states increased by 28% amounting to $ 26.1 billion. At the same time, the Kazakhstan-Armenia bilateral trade turnover has increased by more than 30% in the mentioned period, “the Kazakh Ambassador said.

The Ambassadors of Kazakhstan and Russia emphasized the need for the EEU countries to overcome the new and difficult challenges through joint efforts.

Prior to Bolat Imanbayev’s speech, Russia’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Armenia Sergey Kopirkin said in his speech that Russia understands very well that the sanctions imposed on it will have a serious impact on its Eurasian allies, and the policy of isolating Russia will be carried out also against the other EEU member states. But Moscow expects that the common interests of Eurasian partners, their economic interdependence, will dictate the understanding that it is necessary to stand together and develop together.

 21:10, 6 April, 2022

YEREVAN, 6 APRIL, ARMENPRESS. The trilateral meeting between the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and the President of the European Council Charles Michel has kicked off in Brussels.

ARMENPRESS reports the meeting was preceded by a bilateral meeting between Pashinyan and Michel, during which the Armenian Prime Minister presented the situation in Artsakh caused by the recent actions of Azerbaijani units, humanitarian issues and stressed the need for a targeted response from the international community.

[see video]

Trilateral meeting between Nikol Pashinyan, Charles Michel and Ilham Aliyev takes place in Brussels

 02:08, 7 April, 2022

YEREVAN, 7 APRIL, ARMENPRESS. The trilateral meeting between the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, the President of the European Council Charles Michel and the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev took place in Brussels, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister.

Nikol Pashinyan referred to the situation and the humanitarian issues in Artsakh caused by the recent actions of the Azerbaijani military units.

Issues related to the implementation of the trilateral statements of November 9, 2020, January 11 and November 26, 2021, as well as the agreements reached at the trilateral meeting in Brussels on December 14 were discussed.

Based on the results of the meeting, an agreement was reached to set up a bilateral commission on border delimitation between Armenia and Azerbaijan until the end of April envisaged in the agreement reached in Sochi on November 26, 2021, which will be authorised to deal with security and stability issues along the border.

The Prime Minister of Armenia and the President of Azerbaijan instructed the Foreign Ministers to start preparations for peace talks between the two countries.

 12:09, 5 April, 2022

YEREVAN, APRIL 5, ARMENPRESS. The Speaker of Parliament of Georgia Shalva Papuashvili will arrive in Armenia on an official visit April 5-6.

The Georgian parliament’s press service said Papuashvili will have meetings with President of Armenia Vahagn Khachaturyan, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan and Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan.

A meeting with Catholicos Garegin II is also scheduled.

 12:47, 5 April, 2022

YEREVAN, APRIL 5, ARMENPRESS. Third President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan will participate in the upcoming rally organized by opposition parties.

The rally is organized by the Hayastan and Pativ Unem opposition blocs of the Armenian parliament. It is scheduled to take place Tuesday evening in Freedom Square, Yerevan.

“The President of the Republican Party of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan will participate in the rally,” the Republican Party of Armenia Vice President Armen Ashotyan said in a statement. “He will participate not only as the leader of one of the organizing forces, not only as a person having enormous contributions for the freedom and security of Artsakh and Armenia, but also as a concerned citizen of the Republic of Armenia,” Ashotyan said.

Meanwhile, it is still unclear whether or not Second President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan, the leader of the Hayastan bloc, will attend the rally. Kocharyan’s office told Sputnik Armenia that he’s being treated for a sports injury and that his participation would depend on his well-being.

 12:56, 5 April, 2022

YEREVAN, APRIL 5, ARMENPRESS. Paris believes that maintaining dialogue on Ukraine with Russian President Vladimir Putin is very important, French Secretary of State for European Affairs Clement Beaune told the RFI radio station, reports TASS.

When asked if French President Emmanuel Macron planned to continue telephone talks with Putin, he answered in the affirmative. “Discussions with President Putin are very important”, Beaune said.

“Emmanuel Macron maintains this negotiating channel particularly based on Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s request”, he added.

 13:18, 5 April, 2022

YEREVAN, APRIL 5, ARMENPRESS. The parliamentary standing committee on labor and social affairs disapproved the bill submitted by the opposition “Armenia” faction, which proposed to raise the minimum wage from 68,000 drams to 80,000 drams.

Faction MP Aghvan Vardanyan presented the bill on making amendments to the Law on Minimum Monthly Wage during the committee’s session.

The lawmaker reminded that recently the Armenia faction has once again proposed to increase the minimum monthly salary, but the proposal was not included into the agenda of the plenary sessions and was not approved in the committee.

“The draft has been amended. The current draft proposes to set the minimum wage at 80,000 drams”, he said, proposing this regulation to take effect from January 2023.

Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Ruben Sargsyan presented the conclusion of the government. He reminded that the government’s 2021-2026 action plan envisages taking steps by 2026 to set the wage up to 85,000 drams. “The increase in minimum wage must be accompanied by a respective economic opportunity as a source of funding for the additional costs”, he said.

The deputy minister said that the draft submitted by the MP has no analysis from economic justification perspective. According to him, the unjustified increase in minimum monthly wage could lead to GDP and employment level decline, which could result in inflation pressures. Therefore, he urged to keep the law unchanged.

The bill was disapproved after long debates at the committee.

 14:24, 5 April, 2022

YEREVAN, APRIL 5, ARMENPRESS. A magnitude 2,6 earthquake was recorded at 13:27, April 5 some 18km south-east from the village of Ashotsk in Shirak Province, the Ministry of Emergency Situations said. It had a depth of 10km.

The earthquake measured 3-4 at the MSK scale in the epicenter, and was felt at an intensity of 2-3 MSK in the villages of Saragyugh and Bavra.