Category: News

Nikol Pashinyan is going to go on a working visit to the Russian Federation on April 1. According to the RA Government, Pashinyan’s meeting with Vladimir Putin will take place in Moscow as part of the visit.

The other day, on March 23, it became known that Pashinyan-Putin had a telephone conversation. From the message of the official Russian Kremlin, it became clear that the initiator of the conversation was the Armenian side.

According to the announcement of the RA government, the interlocutors discussed issues related to the scope of the bilateral agenda and agreed to continue the discussion in the format of a meeting on the next convenient occasion.

A few days later, in the briefing following the Government session, Nikol Pashinyan stated that he had requested a meeting with the President of the Russian Federation, and the issue of transferring the South Caucasian railway concession to a third party was discussed. “I am the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia and I know what kind of state the Russian Federation is, what kind of state the USA, France, Germany, and the EU are. You know, usually I ask them for a meeting and not the other way around, and that’s normal. Yes, I ask everyone to meet, and it is absolutely neither shameful nor humiliating,” he said.

Pashinyan noted that he does not remember such a meeting being initiated and not at his request. Turning to the question of whether he confirms that he raised the issue of transferring the concession of the South Caucasian Railway to a third party during the telephone conversation with Putin, Pashinyan stated that there is no deadline.

“But it’s not like it’s indefinite, we hope to find a solution to that partnership issue.”

Does it confirm that the issue of transferring the concession to the Kazakh company is being discussed? Pashinyan answered. “There is a mutual understanding between us and the Russian Federation, and the Kazakh company is acceptable to both of us… But the partners of the Russian Federation have not yet said: “Okay, we agree, let’s do this”.

Back in February, it became known that Pashinyan wants Russia to hand over the management of South Caucasian railways to a third country. He emphasized: “Due to Russia’s management of the revenue stream, we are losing our strategic positions and losing our competitive advantage.” “The solution I imagine is that such a country, which has friendly relations with both Russia and Armenia, directly buys the right of concession management from Russia,” he added.

Basically, we are talking about Kazakhstan, which has close cooperation with Azerbaijan, recently there are tendencies to close relations with Armenia as well, Kazakhstan also has normal relations with the Russian Federation.

However, the Russian Foreign Ministry considered Pashinyan’s proposal strange. Maria Zakharova, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, said that the railway network of Armenia has been under the management of the “South Caucasus Railways” company for more than 20 years. He informed that during that time, the Russian company not only steadily fulfills its concession obligations, but also invests significant funds in order to modernize infrastructure and rolling stock.

“In Yerevan, however, they seem to have forgotten about this,” said the spokesperson of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

According to Maria Zakharova, “the Russian railway operator is the structure that does not deprive Armenia of competitive opportunities, but creates them.”

“As for our approach to the restoration of the two sections of the Armenian railways, going to Azerbaijan and Turkey, at the request of Yerevan, it was clearly expressed by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk on February 12. We will remain loyal to that point of view,” said the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry. As early as February, Yerevan appealed to Moscow to restore certain railway sections, to which Russian Deputy Prime Minister Overchuk responded positively.

168.amin a conversation with Russian analyst Konstantin Simonov said that despite the foreign policy of EU integration, which has an uncertain future, the Republic of Armenia is a member of the EAEU, and Russia remains a key partner. Therefore, according to him, the Armenian side is trying to show that there are also contacts with the Russian side, because the contacts with representatives of Brussels and Washington are frequent and intense.

“And in the case of Russia, there is a problem of maintaining contacts in the conditions of geopolitical turbulence. In addition, there are many current issues that will be discussed, both related to EAEU and railways. I think that a conversation will take place in this regard, it will be one of the key topics of this meeting, however, it is difficult to say what the outcome will be, because the Russian side has already expressed a negative position in this regard once. However, this time is a little different, because the issue will be discussed during the meeting. It should be clarified that, in my opinion, removing the Russian presence from that sphere is a geopolitical issue, not a complication for other countries from the point of view of cooperation with Armenia. And this completely fits into the framework of RA’s foreign policy in recent years,” said Simonov.

He found it difficult to say what would be the official reaction of Russia to such a request of Armenia. “I think it will become clear in a short time, or perhaps a certain general understanding was reached during the telephone conversation,” he said.

The analyst believes that this contact was not initiated by chance in this period, when Western events and high-ranking visits are expected in RA after some time.

“On the one hand, Yerevan is strengthening its relations with the West, on the other hand, in fact, it cannot ignore the existing deep relations with Moscow, especially in the economic and energy spheres. Taking all this into account, direct dialogue is maintained, but Yerevan’s political relations with the West are getting closer. Russia also has its own foreign policy objectives, Russian approaches have also changed a lot, so every issue is subject to discussion,” said Simonov.

—

Davit Baghdasaryan writes: “Rafael Minasyan had a unique place in the history of Kapan, who was the first secretary of the Ghapan district committee during the Soviet years.

During his administration, Kapan became not only a republican city, but also a city of union importance. At that time, Kapan became an industrial center.

During the years of Rafael Minasyan’s leadership, a lot has changed in Kapan: the Kapan-Yerevan train started working, the factories of lighting, auto repair, electronics, reinforced concrete structures were put into operation, the music school was opened, the brewery was put into operation, the airport was opened, etc.

During the USSR, Kapan was the unique one among the cities with a population of less than 400,000 that, thanks to Rafael Minasyan, had an organ hall, where it has already become a tradition and every year world-class performers perform.

In short, Rafael Minasyan’s contribution to the construction and flourishing of Kapan city is unforgivable.

And why did I remember Rafael Armenaki Minasyan?

The young brothers of the incident that happened two days ago in St. Anna Church are the worthy heirs of R. Minasyan, the great-grandsons…”

—

Please give me a chance to take possession of my child before the end of the investigation, Gayane Minasyan, the mother of Davit Minasyan, who is involved in the case of the incident in the presence of Nikol Pashinyan, told reporters in the court yard.

He described the incident as a misunderstanding, noting that his sons attend services every Sunday.

“Please give me the opportunity to take care of my son, my sons attend mass every Sunday. I am asking for an impartial investigation, for me as a mother to have the opportunity to take control of my child’s house under my control until the court conducts its investigation, everything is done according to the law. At least health and life are not endangered. I suspect that my other son has pneumonia too,” said David’s mother.

According to him, his children are a pair of boys, whom he had at the age of 33, and raised them with great difficulty. He made me believe that his boys are educated and brought up.

“Those who know them will say that they are cultured, educated boys, they study at home, at school, and at the church – at mass. My son Davit was beaten and beaten in the church, it was a stampede, he wanted to stand in his place and pray,” he said that his son was pushed, he fell, got up, and his brother helped him.

Today, Gayane Minasyan has not yet managed to see his son Davit.

It should be noted that the decision regarding the arrest of Davit Minasyan will be published shortly.

—

Davit Minasyan, one of the brothers who took part in the incident in the yard of Saint Anna church, was detained for 2 months. Such a decision was made by the court of general jurisdiction of Yerevan, chaired by Mnatsakan Martirosyan.

Yesterday we reported that the Central Committee requested to detain him for 2 months.

“The motion that was submitted to the court was simply defeated by the defense team. A 12th-grader must be in custody, but people charged with a number of particularly serious crimes can be placed under administrative supervision or house arrest. They didn’t take anything into account,” defender Armen Melkonyan told reporters.

The defender mentioned that they will not give up, they will definitely appeal.

“Are we not going to let the child stay there? They pushed him, threw him on the ground, even the video shows that the boy’s jaw hurts. Folks, these accusations have absolutely nothing to do with reality. We are now in a place that will not lead our country well,” said Melkonyan.

The lawyer emphasized that today the court deprived Davit of the right to finish school. According to Melkonyan, two witnesses were questioned in the case, employees of the bodyguard.

18-year-old Davit, who has health problems, will be transferred to “Armavir” prison.

—

18-year-old student Davit Minasyan, who participated in the incident with Nikol Pashinyan in Saint Anna Church, was detained for 2 months by the decision of judge Mnatsakan Martirosyan.

In a conversation with journalists, lawyer Armen Melkonyan said that they have not yet received the court’s justifications regarding the detention.

“They find that the 12th grade student should be in custody, but a number of people accused of particularly serious crimes can be under administrative control. The judge did not take anything into account,” said the lawyer, noting that they will definitely appeal the decision.

To the journalist’s question, what does the lawyer think, did the judge or Nikol Pashinyan make the decision, Melkonyan answered.

“I will abstain from political evaluations, let the public evaluate it.”

The lawyer said that today the court deprived Davit of the opportunity to finish school.

“After two months, it will be the last call for everyone, but not for Davit. Whose conscience is this?’

—

During the discussion about the US-Israeli war against Iran and its consequences in the South Caucasus, researchers of the “APRI Armenia” analytical center reflected on the impact of this war on the TRIPP project.

Sergey Melkonyan, expert of the center, candidate of historical sciences, internationalist, Israelologist, drew attention to two formats.

“Firstly, the TRIPP project can be delayed because there are many risks, secondly, it will change in some way if we don’t know what the situation will be in Iran. Officials have already said about the delay that the interest from the US is decreasing, therefore, the project may be delayed. As for how the project can be changed, there are several problems here. firstly, what will be the situation in Iran if the current government remains and some kind of agreement is reached with the USA, secondly, if some kind of chaos is created in Iran,” he elaborated, not excluding that there could be an Iran-US agreement and TRIPP could come true, but taking into account Iran’s concerns.

In turn, political scientist Beniamin Poghosyan added that we were not in such a situation that it was already clearly decided that the railway construction will begin on May 1, 2026.

“Armenia and the USA are in a rather complicated legal process,” he stressed.

Details in the video

—

Armen Ashotyan writes on his Facebook page that he properly informed his colleagues of the European People’s Party about the disgraceful arrest applied to student Davit Minasyan.

“Let the European capitals know well how Nikol Pashinyan is “preparing” for the EU-Armenia summit in May,” wrote Armen Ashotyan.

—

Davit Minasyan did not enter the Armavir Penitentiary, he lost consciousness and was taken to the hospital. lawyer Lusine Martirosyan informs about this on her Facebook page.

He was transferred to “Armavir” medical center.

—

18-year-old Davit Minasyan, who was arrested on Sunday in the case of the St. Anna church incident, was detained for two months. The court, chaired by Mnatsakan Martirosyan, satisfied the petition of the investigator.

Hours after the decision 168․amhad the opportunity to ask questions to the judge who visited the bank on his own business during working hours. A short Q&A is below.

– Did you act according to your conscience?

– You are disturbing me now.

– You know, don’t you, that today’s decision was emotionally reacted to by various public circles․ You actually deprived a school-aged boy of his freedom.

– You can’t pursue this order.

– I’m not chasing, I’m just raising questions, the opportunity has arisen…

By the way, footage of how one of Nikol Pashinyan’s bodyguards hit a school-aged boy in the church, who was taken into custody, recently appeared on the Internet.

—