14:55, 6 December 2023

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS. Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister’s Office Arayik Harutyunyan has met with Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Armenia, Ambassador Vassilis Maragos.

Harutyunyan thanked Ambassador Maragos for the efforts aimed at intensifying partnership and expressed hope that the mutual commitment to deepen Armenia-EU cooperation will contribute to the swift implementation of expected initiatives, Harutyunyan’s office said in a readout.

Speaking about the problems of the forcibly displaced persons of Nagorno-Karabakh, Harutyunyan attached importance to the EU’s continuous support for addressing the needs of the refugees.

Harutyunyan and Maragos exchanged ideas about the course and prospects of cooperation between Armenia and the EU, and discussed the regional developments, security developments and the course of the reforms undertaken by the Armenian government. In this context, the sides discussed strategic communication, the imperative of introducing and developing it as an institution and looked into the opportunities and mechanisms for studying and localizing the best experience of the EU.

Chief of Staff Arayik Harutyunyan presented the Crossroads of Peace project to Ambassador Maragos and said that the government of Armenia expects effective support from all international partners in implementing this important regional initiative.

An agreement was reached to jointly make efforts to make the current Armenia-EU partnership more effective.

 16:08, 6 December 2023

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS. Armenia’s absence at the CSTO PA meeting won’t impact the decision on creating a unified air defense system, the Russian foreign ministry has claimed.

“Their physical absence doesn’t overall hinder the process of agreeing adoption of collective documents, which in many cases they join,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin told reporters when asked whether Armenia’s refusal to take part in the CSTO PA session will have any impact on the plans to create a unified air defense system.

The 16^th plenary session of the CSTO PA Council will take place on December 19 in Moscow.

The Armenian delegation  in the session.

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 16:46, 6 December 2023

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS. Russia welcomes the meeting of the border delimitation commissions of Armenia and Azerbaijan and is ready to support the process, Russian Foreign Ministry representative Maria Zakharova has said.

“We welcome the meeting of the representatives of Azerbaijan and Armenia on the border,” Zakharova said at a press briefing.

“We are ready to provide any kind of support during the delimitation process,” she added.

 16:53, 6 December 2023

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS. The problem at the Upper Lars checkpoint pertaining to Russia banning an increasing number of Armenian export freight trucks from entering the country has been resolved, Economy Minister Vahan Kerobyan has said.

He said the issue related to stronger supervision administered by the customs.

“At this moment the vehicles are mostly passing through the Upper Lars checkpoint. The problems emerged as a result of increased control at the Lars checkpoint, after which we initiated discussions on various levels, regarding the problems and solutions. The clearance of vehicles got restored Saturday,” Kerobyan said in parliament when asked on the matter. 

The minister said that the government prioritizes that Armenian companies have high-quality products, not just for exports but also local consumption. “We are resolute in this regard, so that goods produced in Armenia become high-quality, high-standard in a short period of time,” he said.

 17:09, 6 December 2023

YEREVAN, 6 DECEMBER, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 6 December, USD exchange rate up by 0.15 drams to 403.10 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 1.54 drams to 434.94 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate down by 0.05 drams to 4.35 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 1.30 drams to 507.87 drams.

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

Gold price down by 323.19 drams to 26222.54 drams. Silver price down by 11.48 drams to 314.54 drams.

 17:10, 6 December 2023

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS. Economic calculations for the implementation of the Crossroads of Peace project have been made, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said.

The Prime Minister was asked during question time in parliament on the potential economic benefits of the Crossroads of Peace project and whether calculations have been made. 

“We have such calculations and we can provide them to you, they are calculations made by an international organization,” the Prime Minister said in response to a question by MP Arthur Khachatryan. “The Crossroads of Peace concept isn’t simply an economic calculation, it is a broader and more comprehensive project, it doesn’t only have an economic significance, it has huge political, security and regional significance,” Pashinyan said.

 18:14, 6 December 2023

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS. International organizations have been monitoring Armenia's progress in the field of democracy over the past five years. However, despite these assessments, the government does not consider that Armenia's democracy is perfect.

The Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said during a question-and-answer session in the National Assembly, in response to a query from Levon Kocharyan, an MP from the 'Armenia' faction whether the government has studied how many people are detained in democratic countries for publications on social networks, how many people are persecuted for expressing dissenting opinions, considering that similar cases have been recorded in Armenia.

“Naturally, we cannot monitor the statistics of all countries, but we can compare with the statistics of the previous period of the Republic of Armenia and we can say that politicians are not killed in the entrances, people are not shot at, elections are not falsified, they are not part of the share of this or that business, Yerablur plots are not privatized.

As for international statistics, we follow the reports of international organizations that have been recording Armenia's progress in the field of democracy for five years. And today, during the final speech of the budget discussion, I have referred to our problems in the field of justice, but I also cannot help but emphasize that huge reforms have been implemented and I have no doubt that we will also achieve our ideal of an independent judicial system, fairness and justice," said the Prime Minister.

 19:03, 6 December 2023

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS.  Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, at a meeting with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan in Skopje, presented the Russian vision of geopolitical developments, and Ararat Mirzoyan shared the Armenian side’s vision regarding Russia’s position on various sensitive issues.

Armenian Foreign Minister said during a question-and-answer session in the National Assembly, in response to a query from Lilit Minasya, deputy of the NA "Civil Agreement" faction.

The deputy inquired about the topic of the recent meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during the 30th OSCE Ministerial Council in Skopje, particularly considering the recent complications in Armenian-Russian relations.

Mirzoyan highlighted that the agenda of bilateral relations between Armenia and Russia encompasses a wide range of areas and issues. The two countries also share overlapping interests in regional matters, ensuring that there is always a substantive topic to discuss with Russia.

"We are always pleased  to use the opportunities for such contacts. During the meeting, the Russian Foreign Minister presented their vision on recent events and geopolitical developments. We, in turn, shared our perceptions of their positions and our views on the behavior and positions of the Russian Federation regarding various sensitive issues," said Mirzoyan, assessing the meeting as effective.

The deputy noted that after the meeting, the Russian Foreign Ministry published a video where Sergey Lavrov complained about the representative of Armenia in the OSCE.

“Yes, I saw a fragment of our meeting, which was spread by the Russian Foreign Ministry. There seems to be some kind of misunderstanding. Sergey Lavrov believed that the initiative for the meeting came from our permanent representative to the OSCE, but the information I had was completely different.

Apparently, there was a technical misunderstanding, which was brought to the attention of the Russian Foreign Minister. The conversation was about who initiated the meeting, and I said that we did not initiate it,” said FM Mirzoyan.

 19:33, 6 December 2023

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS. On December 5-6, on the sidelines of his working visit to Tunisia, Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia Vahan Kostanyan had a meeting with Nabil Ammar, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Migration and Tunisians abroad of the Republic of Tunisia. During the meeting, the Deputy Foreign Minister touched upon the relations between the two countries, briefed on the current situation in the South Caucasus, and also conveyed to Minister Ammar the invitation of Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan to visit Armenia, the foreign ministry said.

Following the meeting, the first Armenian-Tunisian political consultations took place between the delegations headed by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Vahan Kostanyan and Mounir Ben Rjiba, the Secretary of State to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tunisia.

According to the source, During the consultations, the interlocutors thoroughly touched upon bilateral political and economic relations. Agreements were reached on deepening cooperation in the spheres of education, culture, tourism, civil aviation, healthcare, high technology and other areas of mutual interest.

The sides also touched upon issues on regional and international security.

It is noted that Deputy Foreign Minister Vahan Kostanyan briefed his counterparts on the vision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia on achieving stability and peace in the South Caucasus, the "Crossroads of Peace" project aimed at stimulating regional communications, as well as the actions of the Government of Armenia to address the rights of people forcibly displaced resulting from the ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh.

During the working visit, the sides signed a memorandum on political consultations between the Foreign Ministries of Armenia and Tunisia, as well as an agreement on the establishment of a visa free regime for diplomatic passport holders.

 19:38, 6 December 2023

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS. Border delimitation process between  Armenia and Azerbaijan will be complex and lengthy, Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia, Mher Grigoryan said during the question-and-answer session with members of the government in the National Assembly.

“The delimitation process will be quite complex and prolonged; this is obvious. There seems to be a mutual understanding that the delimitation process will be carried out solely on the basis of documents having legal significance. Additionally, we will work with maps that are not pictures or map-like diagrams, but actual topographic maps. For example, the 1975 map, which should be carefully studied. There will not be a single meeting after which we will come and declare that the delimitation process is completed. This is simply impossible,” said the Deputy Prime Minister.

Grigoryan emphasized the importance of the fact that the parties share a common understanding of the process, its significance and the approach to work.

 Addressing the outcomes of the latest working meeting between the commissions of Armenia and Azerbaijan on delimitation issues, the Deputy Prime Minister mentioned that they had  agreed to establish a working protocol that would outline the institutional process of the work.

The Deputy Prime Minister didn’t provide substantive details from the latest meeting, as it wasn't discussed, including matters related to enclaves and exclaves.