Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev lauded the peace with Armenia on Thursday, saying that peace has been established “not only on paper.”

He made the remarks at the opening ceremony of the 13th Global Baku Forum.

“I have repeatedly stated that we have achieved peace with Armenia not only on paper. Seven months ago, the peace agreement was initialed and a joint statement was adopted. At the same time, we are living in a real world of peace. The situation on the border is calm, there are no longer any exchanges of fire, and there are no casualties or losses.

The 28-year mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group failed. The goal of the co-chairs was not to resolve the conflict but to freeze it and use it as leverage over the two countries. Therefore, we concluded that this mediation should be abandoned.

This is not merely a theory but real experience. We have lived through it, and today we see its results. Therefore, I believe this experience will certainly be taken into account when seeking solutions to existing conflicts,” the President of Azerbaijan said in his remarks, according to APA news agency.

Aliyev also stated that peace with Azerbaijan will allow Armenia to become a transit country.

“We are closely working on the expansion of the Middle Corridor, which also passes through the territory of Armenia. For the first time in the history of its independence, Armenia could become a transit country. It is not yet one. Thanks to this, we will be able to establish a direct connection between the main part of Azerbaijan and our exclave, the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic,” he said.

He also noted that Azerbaijan has removed restrictions on the transportation of goods entering Armenia from different directions.

“We have lifted restrictions on the transportation of goods entering Armenia from various directions. We have resumed trade and significant exports of petroleum products to this country,” Aliyev added.

The bust of French Resistance fighter and French national hero, Missak Manouchian, will be installed in one of the parks in central Yerevan that bears his name.

The Yerevan City Council approved the decision on March 12.

Missak Manouchian, a French-Armenian poet, led a small group of foreign Resistance fighters, which included many Jews, against the Nazi occupation, carrying out attacks on Nazi forces and acts of sabotage in Nazi-occupied France in 1943.

French President Emmanuel Macron said in 2023 that Manouchian “embodies the universal values” of France and “carries a part of our greatness.”

The WWII hero was executed by the Nazis on February 21, 1944, a year after being arrested. 

Missak Manouchian was pantheonized in France in 2024. 

Manouchian’s wife Mélinée was also a resistance fighter. 

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and French President Emmanuel Macron attended the ceremony in 2024 when Manouchian was interred in the mausoleum housing France’s national heroes.

The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 12 March, USD exchange rate up by 0.17 drams to 377.44 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 1.65 drams to 436.25 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.0197 drams to 4.7633 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 1.8 drams to 505.51 drams.

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

Gold price down by 303 drams to 62888 drams. 

Armenian Defense Minister Suren Papikyan met with Belgian Minister of Defense and Foreign Trade Theo Francken during his working visit to Brussels, Papikyan said.

Papikyan shared photos from the meeting and wrote that he had met Francken on March 12 as part of his visit to the Belgian capital.

Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan met with Ignazio Cassis, Vice President of the Swiss Confederation and head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said in a press release.

Cassis hosted Mirzoyan for a working lunch at the Federal Council’s official reception house in the historic part of Bern.

The sides praised the dynamically developing political dialogue between Armenia and Switzerland and expressed readiness to further develop the partnership in various areas. In this context, they emphasized the importance of the Armenian government’s decision to open an embassy in Bern, describing it as a significant political impetus for expanding and enriching the bilateral agenda.

The sides also exchanged views on developments in the South Caucasus and the Middle East.

Mirzoyan presented steps aimed at further institutionalizing the peace established between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

He also highly appreciated Switzerland’s support for strengthening Armenia’s democratic institutions, as well as its assistance in addressing humanitarian issues and the needs of refugees displaced from Karabakh.

The parties also exchanged views on other issues of mutual interest.

Armenian Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Arsen Torosyan met with Diene Keita, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), in New York, the ministry said.

The sides discussed the results of joint work in the fields of demography and gender equality. They also referred to cooperation in developing and implementing pro-family policies and promoting the economic empowerment of women.

During the meeting, the role of the UN Population Fund’s professional and technical assistance in the effective implementation of sectoral reforms was emphasized.

The sides also highlighted the need to exchange experience, organize training courses and implement joint initiatives in the discussed areas.

The parties expressed readiness to make further efforts to deepen cooperation.

Armenia’s Defense Ministry has denied reports circulating in media and on social platforms claiming that Azerbaijani armed forces have deployed a new military position on the sovereign territory of Armenia.

In a video released by the ministry, spokesperson Aram Torosyan said that in recent days a group of public figures and media outlets had been spreading false information alleging that Azerbaijani forces established a new position on Armenia’s sovereign territory in 2025.

Torosyan urged the public to rely only on official information and not to give in to misinformation.

Details are provided in the video released by the ministry.

U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the release of 172 million barrels of oil from the United States’ Strategic Petroleum Reserve on Wednesday, after oil prices rocketed to their highest levels in years amid the U.S.’s war with Iran, CBS News reported.

The releases will start next week and take about 120 days, Energy Secretary Christopher Wright said Wednesday in a statement.

The move is part of a coordinated release by the International Energy Agency, whose 32 member countries — mostly U.S. allies — announced earlier Wednesday they would let 400 million barrels of oil flow out of their emergency reserves. 

Wright said the U.S. plans to replenish the reserve with 200 million barrels of oil “within the next year.”

CBS News quoted Trump as saying at a press briefing that after the reserve is tapped, “we’ll fill it up.”

The benchmark U.S. crude oil price, West Texas Intermediate, was trading at just over $92 per barrel as of Wednesday evening at 8:15 p.m. ET. Prices had climbed about 7.2% over the course of the day and were largely unchanged following the announcement of a Strategic Petroleum Reserve release, which was widely expected, according to CBS News.

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve — stored in massive underground caverns in Texas and Louisiana — held about 415 million barrels as of last week, CBS News reported citing government figures. In total, the IEA says its members have more than 1.2 billion barrels in their reserves.

The United Nations Security Council adopted a draft resolution condemning Iran’s attacks on Gulf countries and Jordan, demanding that Tehran immediately halt hostilities, Al Jazeera reported.

Thirteen of the 15 members of the UNSC voted on Wednesday in favor of the resolution sponsored by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and cosponsored by an extraordinary 135 other UN member states.

No countries voted against the draft.

Both China and Russia abstained but notably decided not to use their veto power to block this resolution.

The resolution condemns Iran’s attacks, demands an immediate halt to hostilities, and deplores Tehran’s targeting of infrastructure such as ports and energy facilities in the Gulf region.

After the vote, Iran’s UN Ambassador Amir-Saeid Iravani addressed the Council, expressing his “profound regret” at the adoption of the resolution.

“This is a deeply regrettable day for the Security Council and for the international community. Today’s adoption is a serious setback to the Council’s credibility and leaves a lasting stain on its record,” Al Jazeera quoted Iravani as saying.

“Today’s action represents a blatant misuse of the Security Council mandate,” he said, blasting the United States for its “barbaric war against the Iranian people” and for starting the conflict, including killing Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

“This resolution is a manifest injustice against my country, the main victim of a clear act of aggression. It distorts the realities on the ground and deliberately ignores the root causes of the current crisis,” Iravani said, accusing the US and Israel of being behind the resolution.

Iravani also said more than 1,348 civilians have been killed and more than 17,000 injured since the US and Israel launched their attack on February 28, including the “massacre of 170 schoolgirls in Minab”.

More than 19,000 civilian sites, including residential homes and hospitals, have also been damaged, he added.

Addressing the council, Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, said his country abstained from the vote on the draft resolution “because it was extremely unbalanced” and would not fulfil the purpose “of meeting international peace and security”.

“We regret the situation that Middle Eastern countries find themselves in. Moreover, we think it unacceptable to strike civilian infrastructure of Arab states in the Gulf,” Nebenzia said.

China’s ambassador to the UN Zhang Jun told the council that the conflict had “neither legitimacy nor legal basis” and the US and Israel must cease their attacks to prevent further deterioration of the regional situation.

The UNSC also voted, but failed to pass, a draft resolution put forward by Moscow on Wednesday that called on all sides to cease military action in the Middle East.

The U.S. and Israel launched what they described as a pre-emptive strike against Iran on February 28, claiming that Tehran was developing a nuclear weapon and posing a threat—an allegation Iran has denied. In response, Iran launched counterattacks, firing missiles and drones at Israel, as well as at U.S. assets and other targets across the Middle East.