Category: 2022

 15:45, 1 April, 2022

YEREVAN, APRIL 1, ARMENPRESS. Armenia complemented with its proposals the 5-point proposal made by Azerbaijan regarding the normalization of relations, adding that the issue of the rights and status of Artsakh is principled for the Armenian side, the Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said at a joint press conference with Poland’s FM and OSCE Chairman-in-Office Zbigniew Rau in Yerevan.

FM Mirzoyan emphasized that in all stages of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict Armenia has always been exclusively in favor of a peaceful resolution. In this context he mentioned that Azerbaijan conveyed proposals regarding the normalization.

“We have found these proposals to be acceptable, by at the same time saying that nevertheless these proposals do not fully address the entire agenda of the issues, and with our proposals we complemented this agenda, by adding that the issue of the rights of Nagorno Karabakh and the status of Nagorno Karabakh are principled for us. We expect that soon the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship will nevertheless be able to organize peace talks with this agenda and with the purpose of signing a comprehensive peace treaty,” Mirzoyan said.

He stated that Armenia is consistent to the guidelines set forth in the mentioned statement and the obligations it assumed by three statements adopted after the 2020 war, whereas Azerbaijan still continues violating international humanitarian law, as well as the obligations it assumed under the 2020 November 9 statement by still keeping Armenian POWs captive nearly one and half year since the 44-day war ended.

“I’d like to reaffirm the readiness of the Armenian side to take steps for increasing stability in the border zone and then also undertake the launch of the process of Armenia-Azerbaijan demarcation. I also want to note that as you know, negotiations and consultations are taking place between Armenia and Azerbaijan regarding the unblocking of transport and economic connections, and here we’ve again made proposals and we are waiting for Azerbaijan’s response. We believe that we will be able to have more tangible results in the issues of unblocking economic connections, as well as more broadly in establishing comprehensive peace in case of having a respective stance of international partners, and also perhaps by having a constructive stance from Azerbaijan.”

 15:51, 1 April, 2022

YEREVAN, APRIL 1, ARMENPRESS. The Eastern Partnership Index 2020-2021 has been published.

The Eastern Partnership Index 2021 charts the performance of the six Eastern Partnership countries (Armenia, Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, Georgia and Azerbaijan) and their progress towards sustainable democratic development and European integration.

The Index measures developments in the areas of:

• Democracy and Good Governance
• Policy Convergence with the European Union
• Sustainable Development

Armenia is leading the region with regards to the independence of the judiciary – 0.71 score, following by Moldova (0.66), Georgia (0.57), Ukraine (0.56), Belarus (0.50) and Azerbaijan (0.43).

 16:10, 1 April, 2022

YEREVAN, APRIL 1, ARMENPRESS. The United Kingdom’s Minister of State (Minister for Europe) at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office James Cleverly met with Armenia’s Ambassador to UK Varuzhan Nersesyan.

“Useful discussions on the importance of a diplomatic solution on Nagorno-Karabakh and development of UK and Armenia future partnership opportunities as we celebrate 30 years of relations”, the UK Minister of State said on Twitter.

 16:20, 1 April, 2022

YEREVAN, APRIL 1, ARMENPRESS. A regular sitting of the Security Council under the chairmanship of President of the Artsakh Republic Arayik Harutyunyan was held in an expanded format, the Presidential Office said.
In his opening remarks, the President of Artsakh first and foremost noted that the frequent holding of Security Council sittings recently is conditioned by the military-political situation in the republic, especially by the developments in the eastern part of Artsakh.

Touching upon the carried out actions and future plans, President Harutyunyan expressed his appreciation to the Defense Army, other power structures and the volunteers, who managed to fulfill the set tasks in a short period of time, suspending the enemy’s advance.

“We understand that their goal was to capture the whole of Karaglukh. We should state that the main height of Karaglukh, the highest point, is under our control, but as of today some important hills are under the control of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces. Our goal is to withdraw the Azerbaijanis to their original positions. Our demand and request to the peacekeeping troops was that the status quo stemming from the trilateral statement should be restored. We will never change this claim,” President Harutyunyan said.

Arayik Harutyunyan expressed confidence that the purpose of the provocation fomented by Azerbaijan was first of all aimed at discrediting the role of the Russian peacekeeping forces.

“We consider that the Russian peacekeeping forces continue to carry out their mission, notwithstanding that episode,” A. Harutyunyan said.

However, the Artsakh Republic President stressed that vigilance should be maintained at a high level until it is clear that Azerbaijan will not resort to such provocations again.

“For that very reason, we will take radical and decisive steps in terms of our self-defense in the future,” President Harutyunyan said.

Minister of Defense Kamo Vardanyan delivered a report on the current operative-tactical situation on the line of contact.

During the discussion of the issues on the agenda, President Harutyunyan gave a number of instructions to the responsible officials of the relevant structures.

 16:53, 1 April, 2022

YEREVAN, APRIL 1, ARMENPRESS. The Lebanese Minister of Public Works and Transportation Ali Hamieh and the Armenian Ambassador to Lebanon Vahagn Atabekyan held a meeting and discussed steps for strengthening relations in various sectors, especially in civil aviation, Lebanese media reported.

The sides emphasized the importance for increasing the flights connecting the capital cities of the two countries.

The Ministry of Public Works and Transport has given the green light to the Armenian Civil Aviation Authority for FLYONE ARMENIA to operate regular flights to and from Lebanon, at an average of three flights per week between Yerevan and Beirut, and vice versa. The sides stated that the flights will bolster relations.

 17:19, 1 April, 2022

YEREVAN, 1 APRIL, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 1 April, USD exchange rate down by 1.13 drams to 484.78 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 2.95 drams to 536.26 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate down by 0.17 drams to 5.81 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 0.71 drams to 636.90 drams.

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

Gold price up by 59.10 drams to 30270.42 drams. Silver price up by 0.04 drams to 386.77 drams. Platinum price stood at 16414.1 drams.

 18:47, 1 April, 2022

YEREVAN, APRIL 1, ARMENPRESS. The United States of America welcomes the meeting of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev to be held on April 6 in Brussels, ARMENPRESS reports this was mentioned in the “Twitter” post of the US mission to the OSCE.

“We welcome the announcement that talks between Prime Minister Pashinyan and President Aliyev will take place in Brussels on April 6. We call for greater attention to be paid to the humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, and reaffirm our support for a diplomatic solution to all existing problems,” the statement said.

The President of the European Council Charles Michel will hold a joint meeting with the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev on April 6 in Brussels.

Valérie Boyer calls on France, EU, UNESCO to protect Artsakh’s cultural heritage

 19:05, 1 April, 2022

YEREVAN, APRIL 1, ARMENPRESS. Valérie Boyer, a member of the Republican faction of the French Senate and vice-chairman of the France-Armenia Friendship Group, called on the French government, the European Union and UNESCO to protect the people and cultural heritage of Artsakh, ARMENPRESS reports Valérie Boyer wrote on her Facebook page. The Senator also published a photo with Father Hovhannes Hovhannisyan, the pastor of Dadivank.

“While the international community is fully involved in the war in Ukraine, I once again ask the Government, the European Union, UNESCO to intervene, to protect the Armenian population and its cultural heritage,” wrote Valérie Boyer.

Germany supports the de-escalation of tension in Artsakh and efforts of peaceful resolution of issues

 19:41, 1 April, 2022

YEREVAN, 1 APRIL, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Defense of Armenia Suren Papikyan on April 1 received the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany Viktor Richter.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the Ministry of Defense of Armenia, the interlocutors discussed the situation in Armenian-Azerbaijani border zone and the situation in Artsakh. The Minister of Defense of Armenia mentioned that the actions of Azerbaijani side endanger the fragile stability of the region, expressing conviction that for prevention of the escalation of the situation it is necessary for the international community to take measures.  

Ambassador Richter confirmed that the German side supports the de-escalation of the existing situation and efforts of peaceful resolution of the issues.

During the meeting issues related to cooperation in bilateral and multilateral formats were discussed.