09:42,
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 30, ARMENPRESS. Former U.S. Secretary of State and former U.S. National Security Advisor, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Henry Kissinger died on Wednesday at age 100.
Kissinger died at his home in Connecticut, Reuters reported citing a statement from the diplomat’s geopolitical consulting firm, Kissinger Associates Inc.
No mention was made of the circumstances.
10:11,
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 30, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan met on November 29 with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Skopje within the framework of the 30th OSCE Ministerial Council.
In a readout, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said that Mirzoyan and Blinken discussed issues related to security and stability in the South Caucasus.
The latest developments in the Armenia-Azerbaijan normalization process were also discussed.
Foreign Minister Mirzoyan underscored that despite Azerbaijan’s unconstructive conduct and the ethnic cleansing that was perpetrated in Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as the humanitarian issues, Armenia has conveyed to Azerbaijan proposals regarding the draft peace treaty in line with the well-known principles. Mirzoyan said that in case of Azerbaijan clearly committing to these principles, it will be possible to achieve significant progress in the direction of agreeing the draft.
Regional projects were discussed, and Foreign Minister Mirzoyan cited the Crossroads of Peace project developed by the Armenian government, emphasizing the expected advantages for regional stability resulting from the implementation of the project.
The Armenian-American bilateral agenda was also discussed. Ideas were exchanged around the cooperation in bilateral and multilateral platforms and prospects for enhancing the partnership.
13:04,
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 30, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Vahagn Khachaturyan has left for Dubai, UAE to participate in COP28 – the 28th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
President Khachaturyan is expected to deliver a speech at the session and also hold bilateral meetings.
Minister of Environment Hakob Simidyan is part of the presidential delegation.
COPs take place every year, and are the world’s only multilateral decision-making forum on climate change with almost complete membership of every country in the world.
The COP is where the world comes together to agree on ways to address the climate crisis, such as limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, helping vulnerable communities adapt to the effects of climate change, and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.
10:42,
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 30, ARMENPRESS. Chairman of the State Revenue Committee of Armenia Rustam Badasyan has been elected Co-Chair of the Asia Initiative of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes during the organization’s annual meeting in Lisbon, Portugal.
Armenia will hold the co-chairmanship of the Asia Initiative for the next two years.
Yerevan will host the 6th Asia Initiative forum in 2024.
13:32,
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 30, ARMENPRESS. No meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers is planned within the framework of the 30th Ministerial Council of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Skopje, foreign ministry spokesperson Ani Badalyan told Armenpress.
13:33,
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 30, ARMENPRESS. The first AI supercomputing center in the region will be opened in Armenia, Vice Speaker of Parliament Hakob Arshakyan has said.
The funding for launching the center will amount to approximately 8,5 million USD.
The project was discussed during Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s meeting with NVIDIA executive Jensen Huang in April.
Arshakyan said in a statement that the Cabinet has approved his recommendation on including the AI supercomputing center project in the 2024 state budget, and the proposal will be sent to parliament.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) Group has donated €200,000 to address the mental health and winter-related needs of the Karabakh Armenian children. It will support up to 26,000 children who have fled to Armenia following the military escalation in September 2023.
The donation is made via the EIB’s philanthropic arm, the EIB Institute, and delivered through UNICEF.
Thanks to the EIB Group donation, UNICEF will establish and operate a mental health helpline staffed by 20 trained counsellors for two years. The children and their caregivers will also receive face-to-face psychological support through play therapy, art therapy, and group sessions. The donation will also support refugee families through vouchers that will help them to cover their essential needs as the winter season begins.
In late September, more than 100,000 people took refuge in Armenia with children making up more than one-third of the displaced population, the EIB said.
“Children have suffered most from the conflict and displacement,” said Shiva Dustdar, director and dean of the EIB Institute. “It is a top priority for the EIB Institute to help them access the support and care they need to settle down and look forward to a brighter future.”
Find out more
Press release
https://euneighbourseast.eu/news/latest-news/armenia-eib-group-donates-e200000-to-unicef-for-psycho-social-support-for-refugees/
Regional security in the South Caucasus was discussed on Wednesday in a meeting between the Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili and Armen Grigoryan, the Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia, the legislative body said.
The officials highlighted “intensive development” of relations between the two countries, with Grigoryan congratulating Georgia on receiving the positive recommendation for the country to be granted the European Union membership candidate status.
The meeting also discussed the current state of the region and emphasised the importance of reaching a peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan, with Papuashvili noting Georgia would “always be ready” to promote regional peace.
The parties also pointed out the “growing importance” of the Middle Corridor – a multimodal transport corridor connecting China to Europe through the South Caucasus – and opportunities for economic diversification.
Armenia summons extraordinary meeting of Eurasian Economic Union amid disagreement with Russia
Armenian economy minister says meeting will take place within 2 days
Armenian Economy Minister Vaan Kerobyan said Wednesday that he initiated an extraordinary meeting of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) amid a disagreement with Russia.
He said at a news conference in Armenia's capital, Yerevan, that 35 Armenian trucks were refused entry at the Upper Lars border point between Russia and Georgia.
Kerobyan said the meeting will take place within two days, in the meanwhile the Armenian side is studying the Russian regulatory documents.
Relations between Russia and Armenia have been strained recently because of the situation in Karabakh. Armenian authorities expected that Russia and a military bloc led by Moscow, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), would fight for the Karabakh region which used to have an overwhelming Armenian population but is an internationally recognized Azerbaijan territory.
When Russia and the CSTO refused to interfere in Armenia's conditions, Yerevan accused them of failing to fulfill their ally obligations and turned to the West.
Following the new line, Armenian top officials, including Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, have been refusing to take part in the Eurasian format, including the EAEU and CSTO meetings.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, commenting on the Armenia's line, said Yerevan wants to continue profiting from participation in the Eurasian formats while taking unfriendly steps against their participants, including Russia.