Category: News

On 7 April Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan received OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs Igor Popov (Russian Federation), Pierre Andrieu (France), James Warlick (USA), personal representative of the OSCE chairman-in-office, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk.

The meeting addressed issues related to the large-scale military operations launched Azerbaijan against the Artsakh Republic.
President Sahakyan called the treacherous aggression of Azerbaijani as one of the greatest perils to stability and peace in the South Caucasus and the neighboring regions, qualifying it a serious challenge to the civilized world too.

Bako Sahakyan underlined that the Artsakh Defense Army averted and would always rebuff any encroachment on our republic’s independence, sovereignty and security, adding that he expected from OSCE Minsk Group tough and targeted response and steps towards the destructive policy of Azerbaijan.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Mdvedev has arrived in Yerevan at the invitation of Armenian Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan.

The delegation headed by the Russian PM comprises a number of government representatives, as well as the Director General of “Roskosmos” State Corporation Igor Komorov and Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller.

Hovik Abrahyan welcomed his Russian counterpart at Zvartnots Airpors.

Immediately after the official welcome ceremony the Russian delegation left for Tsitsernakaberd Memorial to pay tribute to the memory of the Armenian genocide victims.

In an article published by , French MP Valérie Boyer insists that it’s time to recognize the de facto independent Republic of Nagorno Karabakh.

She reminds that the night of April 2 Azerbaijan launched a major military offensive against the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh in what became the worst escalation since the conclusion of cease-fire in 1994.

“Azerbaijan  mobilized assaults tanks, combat helicopters, drones and even Grad missiles that targeted the cities of Nagorno-Karabakh and caused casualties among civilians, including children. The attack was pushed back so that dictator Aliyev had to agree on a ceasefire. With more than 200 dead, about twenty tanks destroyed and no territorial gain, this inept offensive has indeed shown the military weakness of Azerbaijan,” Boyer writes.

“How come that Azerbaijan stuffed with petrodollars is unable to triumph over tiny Nagorno Karabakh? Because no one in Azerbaijan, except Aliyev is interested in waging war,” the lawmaker writes.

“The Republic of Nagorno Karabakh has been de facto independent for nearly twenty-five years. For 25 years it has been striving to make each day even more democratic, while Azerbaijan sinks into the most desperate dictatorship,” she continues.

“The international community believed that postponing the question of the political status of Nagorno-Karabakh would favor negotiations and the establishment of peace. Experience shows, however, that it is not so and it only encourages the bellicose ardor of Baku. We must put an end to this situation. We must now recognize Nagorno-Karabakh,” Valerie Boyer concludes.

Valerie Boyer is a Member of French National Assembly. She represents the Bouches-du-Rhône department and is a member of the Union for a Popular Movement.

The Karabakh forces have destroyed another Azerbaijani military drone today, the NKR Defense Ministry informs.

Armenian Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev agreed new tariffs on the Russian natural gas supplied to Armenia, Abrahamyan said on Thursday after completion of talks.

“We thoroughly discussed reduction of prices for supplies of Russian natural gas to Armenia,” Abrahamyan said. An agreement reached “was fixed by signing the relevant document,” he added.

“We agreed energy issues, including natural gas supply, which is definitely critical to ensure stable energy consumption in Armenia and normal development of the Republic of Armenia on the whole,” Russian Prime Minister said in his turn.

The natural gas price for Armenia will be reduced from $165 to $150 per 1,000 cubic meters in the first quarter of 2016.

The situation in Nagorno-Karabakh is far from stable, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday, TASS reports.

“The situation is certainly far from stable,” Peskov said. “That’s why it is impossible to stop at what has already been achieved, and no one is going to do this,” he added.

Talking about the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh in general, “a setback has occurred,” Peskov said. “Very good progress was made before the resumption of heated clashes. Now, unfortunately, a setback occurred, and there’s a lot of catching up that will need to be done,” he concluded.

Moscow will continue its efforts to assist the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict’s peaceful settlement, Peskov went on to say.

“Certainly, this time again very prompt and major efforts have been exerted with a view to stopping the fire,” he said. “These Russia’s efforts have been welcomed by the parties concerned. Of course, Moscow will continue its consistent policy.”

NKR Defense Minister, Lieutenant-General Levon Mnatsakanyan had a meeting with OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs James Warlick, Igor Popov and Pierre Andrieu. Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk was present at the meeting.

The Defense Minister referred to the recent developments along the line of contact between the armed forces of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan and presented undeniable proofs of Azerbaijani military aggression, particularly the inhumane crimes committed against the civilian population.

The Co-Chairs, in turn, reiterated the importance of solving the issue through peaceful negotiations and discussed the future steps to be implemented in that direction.

Thirty-six Armenian soldiers have been killed since the start of large-scale military actions launched by Azerbaijan the night of April 2, Colonel Victor Arustamyan, Head of the operative department of the NKR Defense Army, told a press conference today.

The rival continue violating the ceasefire today, as a result of which a Defense Army soldier was wounded.

A drone of the Azerbaijani armed forces was shot down, Col. Arustamyan said.

As for the missing, he said search works continue. The Defense Army has provided completed data to the International Committee of the Red Cross..

 

Almost all the agreements on the settlement in Nagorno-Karabakh are “on the table,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday after talks with his Azerbaijani and Iranian counterparts Elmar Mammadyarov and Javad Zarif, TASS reports.

“Russian President Vladimir Putin pays personal attention to this issue, we regularly meet at the level of ministers with counterparts from Azerbaijan and Armenia,” Lavrov said.

“I agree that almost all the components of agreements are already on the table,” he said, adding that “in fact, we are very close (to reaching them).”

Lavrov said the talks in Baku with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and his meeting with Armenia’s Eduard Nalbandyan on Friday focus on these efforts.

He stressed that Russia is interested more than any other foreign partner that the conflict is resolved as soon as possible. “It is in our common interest to reach settlement.”

Russia’s top diplomat also urged measures to prevent new outbreaks of violence and called for stepping up efforts for political settlement.