14:28,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 29, ARMENPRESS. On August 29, Minister of Defense Suren Papikyan held a meeting with the U.S. Chargé d’Affaires in Armenia William (Chip) Laitinen, and the newly appointed Defense Attaché, Colonel Kevin Steele.

“The Minister of Defense congratulated Colonel Kevin Steele on the occasion of commencing the mission in Armenia and wished fruitful cooperation,” the Ministry of Defense said in a readout. “A range of topics related to the current status of the Armenia-U.S. Defense Cooperation and its development prospects, as well as regional security, were discussed,” it added.

 14:41,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 29, ARMENPRESS. Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia Armen Grigoryan on August 29 met in New Delhi with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.

In a statement on social media, Grigoryan said he congratulated Ajit Doval on the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 lunar probe.

“I offered congratulations on the successful landing of the Chandrayaan-3 lunar probe. In this context we discussed the implementation of possible joint projects in space industry. We also discussed issues related to regional security developments, as part of which I briefed on the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh and attached importance to the involvement of the international community for overcoming it,” Grigoryan said, adding that both sides lauded the course of development of the Armenian-Indian bilateral relations and discussed prospects of developing ties in a number of areas.

 15:11,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 29, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan spoke by phone with French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday to discuss the regional situation.

“Nikol Pashinyan underscored the daily deteriorating humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh resulting from the illegal blockade of the Lachin Corridor by Azerbaijan and emphasized the need for steps aimed at overcoming and resolving it,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a readout.

The Armenian and French leaders also underscored the importance of consistent efforts in the direction of ensuring stability and peace in the region, the Prime Minister’s Office added.

 17:35,

YEREVAN, 29 AUGUST, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 29 August, USD exchange rate up by 0.16 drams to 386.15 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 0.01 drams to 417.27 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate down by 0.03 drams to 4.02 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 0.48 drams to 486.09 drams.

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

Gold price up by 9.85 drams to 23780.95 drams. Silver price up by 0.13 drams to 300.26 drams.

 10:22,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 28, ARMENPRESS. The Azerbaijani military opened gunfire late on Sunday evening at Armenian outposts in the Gegharkunik Province, the Ministry of Defense of Armenia said in a statement.

“On August 27, at around 11:30 p.m., Azerbaijani armed forces units fired from fire arms towards the Armenian combat outposts nearby Norabak,” the ministry said.

 10:50,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 28, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ararat Mirzoyan has visited the Debeli Rtič health resort and medical center during his visit to Slovenia.

Accompanied by Samuel Žbogar, the State Secretary for political and multilateral affairs, economic diplomacy and development cooperation at the Slovenian Foreign Ministry, FM Mirzoyan toured the center and became acquainted with its activities and the program envisaged for Armenian children. The Austrian Ambassador to Slovenia and a representative of the Slovenian Red Cross were also present during the tour.

The Debeli Rtič center is accepting 17 children from Armenian border towns from August 26 to September 3 as part of a program implemented with support from Slovenian ITF (Enhancing Human Security), the Slovenian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and the Permanent Representation of Austria in the OSCE.

The program is implemented in continuation of the 2022 autumn project when 11 Armenian children underwent medical rehabilitation in the center within the framework of a psychological-social support program for children affected by the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

 11:28,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 28, ARMENPRESS. Two Armenian servicemen suffered fatal gunshot wounds on August 27 in unclear circumstances, the Ministry of Defense of Armenia said Monday.

The deceased servicemen were identified as Artyom A. Haykazyan and Armen H. Khachatryan.

Their duty stations and ranks were not immediately available.

The defense ministry extended condolences to the families and friends of the servicemen and said that an investigation is underway to fully reveal the circumstances of how they sustained the gunshot wounds.

UPDATES:

12:28 – Investigators they suspect murder–suicide.

 12:17,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 28, ARMENPRESS. The construction site of a steelworks owned by a U.S.-affiliated company in the Armenian village of Yeraskh came under heavy Azeri cross-border gunfire over the weekend.

In a statement released Monday, GTB Steel, the company building the steel mill, said that the Azeri forces even targeted the site accommodation of workers.

“The Azerbaijani Armed Forces, from August 25 to 27, fired high intensity, unprecedented number of shots in the direction of the plant which is under construction in Yeraskh, and also targeted the workers’ site accommodation. More than 60 shots were fired,” GTB Steel said in the statement.

The construction site of the steel mill was targeted by the Azeri forces many times before. During one particular cross-border shooting on June 14, the Azeri forces shot and wounded two Indian construction workers. On June 15, the U.S. State Department said Washington was “deeply concerned” that two civilian workers of the U.S.-affiliated company sustained injuries from “gunfire from the direction of Azerbaijan.”

 21:16,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 28, ARMENPRESS. The Foreign Ministry of Armenia called out the Azerbaijani authorities on Monday for derailing the ongoing peace efforts after three residents of Nagorno-Karabakh were kidnapped by Azeri border guards in the Lachin Corridor.

In a statement, the foreign ministry warned that Azerbaijan could be planning to subject the entire people of Nagorno-Karabakh to collective punishment.

“Today, on August 28, Azerbaijani law enforcement agencies in the illegally installed checkpoint in Lachin Corridor kidnapped residents of Nagorno-Karabakh Alen Sargsyan, Vahe Hovsepyan and Levon Grigoryan. The transport was agreed upon in advance and was being carried out with Russian peacekeeping escort, who were to control the uninterrupted connection between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh through Lachin Corridor in accordance with clause 6 of the 9 November 2020 trilateral statement. The abovementioned persons were being transported to the Republic of Armenia to continue their studies. This step by Azerbaijan, which was preceded by the kidnapping of 68-year-old Vagif Khachatryan on July 29, who was being transported to the Republic of Armenia by the International Committee of the Red Cross for urgent medical treatment, constitutes a gross violation of the 9 November 2020 trilateral statement, the binding decisions of the UN International Court of Justice and is an explicit disregard for the unequivocal and targeted calls by the international community, including the members of the UN Security Council. These incidents, which happened under various fake pretexts, bring about substantiated fears that Azerbaijan is overtly planning to subject to collective punishment the entire people of Nagorno-Karabakh, who in the 1990s and in 2020 was forced to withstand large-scale aggressions unleashed by Azerbaijan and defend its right to live peacefully in its own homeland. The policy of mass deprivation of all fundamental rights of the entire population of Nagorno-Karabakh regardless of age, gender or health condition, subjecting them to starvation, blocking supplies of medications, essential products, gas and electricity, terrorizing the entire people through targeting civilians with snipers and kidnappings and blocking the Lachin Corridor showcases the Azerbaijani leadership’s true intentions, i.e., to avoid dialogue with Nagorno-Karabakh at all cost and instead continue its policy of ethnic cleansing. Instead of supporting the steps aimed at establishing peace and stability in the region the Azerbaijani side is explicitly investing its entire efforts in the direction of derailing them. Preventing the ongoing mass crime, with the use of every available instrument is the direct obligation of all actors having influence on the situation and overall, the civilized world,” the foreign ministry said.

 21:34,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 28, ARMENPRESS. French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Monday a new diplomatic initiative to increase international pressure on Azerbaijan to end its blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh.  

Speaking to French ambassadors at a conference, Macron said he will “have an opportunity to speak this week with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.”

“We will demand full respect for the humanitarian Lachin Corridor’s functions. We will once again present a diplomatic initiative in this direction on the international level in order to increase pressure,” Macron added.

On August 25, the French Le Figaro newspaper reported that France plans to introduce a UN Security Council resolution regarding the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh resulting from the Azerbaijani blockade of the Lachin Corridor.