11:07,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. Iran’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov have discussed the situation in the South Caucasus in a phone call.

In a readout, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said that the two FMs discussed “the latest developments in the South Caucasus, the current state of cooperation and bilateral relations, as well as certain issues of the regional and international agenda.”

Iran’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian “welcomed the negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia around a sustainable peace treaty and underscored the Islamic Republic of Iran’s support to peace and stability in the region.”

 11:11,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. U.S. President Joe Biden and Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani have discussed the need to release hostages held in Gaza and efforts to boost humanitarian aid, the White House has said.

“The two leaders discussed the urgent effort to secure the release of all remaining hostages held by Hamas, including American citizens,” the White House said in a readout.

It added that the leaders also discussed the ongoing efforts to "facilitate increased and sustained flows of life-saving access to humanitarian aid into Gaza."

Qatar and Egypt were mediators between Israel and Hamas in the late November truce.

 20:25,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS.  According to the Gaza Health Ministry, the death toll in the Gaza Strip as a result of Israeli strikes has exceeded 21,000, and more than 55,000 people have been injured, reports TASS.

"The number of dead as a result of Israeli aggression since October 7 has increased to 21,110, with 55,243 wounded," Health Ministry Spokesman Ashraf Al-Qudra said in a statement published on the public health agency's official Telegram channel.

According to him, during just the past 24 hours alone, "Israeli occupation forces committed 16 massacres of entire families," leaving 195 victims, reports Tass.

 13:57,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. The Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Armenia is carrying out “intensive work” around the preservation of the cultural heritage of Nagorno-Karabakh, Minister Zhanna Andreasyan has said.

“We have an entire action plan with our partners at the Foreign Ministry on how we are going to deal with the issue of preserving the cultural heritage that has been left in Nagorno-Karabakh,” the Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport said at a press conference.

The ministry has compiled a database of the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of Nagorno-Karabakh.

“We are also recording the cases of vandalism and transferring it to all possible international partners. Also, we are launching electronic databases and websites to make it clear and visible,” Andreasyan added.

 15:52,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. Russia sees political will in Armenia and Azerbaijan to achieve a peace treaty and supports the process, TASS reported citing Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.

“What matters is that we see the presence of political will both in Yerevan and Baku. We support this. We think that the signing of such a treaty would be beneficial for stability and peace both in the two countries, as well as the entire region,” he said.

Peskov said that the contacts between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on the sidelines of the informal CIS summit in Saint Petersburg were “brief conversations” and not negotiations.

“They did not hold negotiations yesterday, however this kind of events, such as the informal summit of the CIS, are always a good opportunity for brief conversations,” Peskov said.

The Armenian Prime Minister’s Office said on December 26 that PM Pashinyan and President Aliyev discussed “issues related to the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace agenda” on the sidelines of the CIS summit.

 19:59,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. Chairman of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Foreign Relations, Sargis Khandanyan in response to Armenpress question about how he would assess the informal contact between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in St. Petersburg and how close Armenia and Azerbaijan are to signing a peace treaty, answered that Armenia’s goal and strategy is to sign a peace treaty with Azerbaijan as soon as possible, emphasizing the need for the document to reflect the principles  outlined by the Armenian side.

"Our goal and strategy are to sign the peace agreement as soon as possible. However, the agreement should reflect the fundamental issues that Armenia has consistently raised. It should be a document that will truly  bring peace to the region and to Armenia,’’ said Khandanyan.

"As for yesterday's meeting, I am not familiar with the details of the informal conversation. However, it is important that contacts continue at all levels. If negotiations do not take place, it means that the process is not moving forward. Armenia aims for the process to proceed as quickly and smoothly as possible," emphasized the Committee Chair.

According to Khandanyan, the recognition of the territorial integrity of the Republic of Armenia, agreement on the principles of border delimitation, and acknowledgment by Azerbaijan of the fundamental principles of opening communications and economic channels remain as priorities for the Armenian side.

Recently, official Yerevan has received Baku's proposals regarding the peace treaty. When asked whether there is an indication that the principles outlined by the Armenian side are acceptable to Azerbaijan, Khandanyan answered: “It is difficult to talk about these indications at the document level, given that the government is negotiating on this issue and access is limited. However, it is very important that the principles that Armenia outlines are accepted by Azerbaijan, including publicly, which will allow us to move forward.”

 19:02,

 15:17,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 26, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian team won bronze in the first European Universities Winter Championships skiing tournament in Val Di Zoldo, Italy. Athletes Gleb Mosesov and Zhirayr Arakelyan represented Armenia at the event from the Armenian State University of Economics. 

Mosesov won silver in the slalom.

The inaugural European Universities Winter Championships and the EUSA Winter Forum saw more than 200 participants attending and witnessing the first time Winter Sports being put on EUSA Championship programme featuring three sports: Alpine Skiing, Snowboarding and Snow Volleyball.

On 19th of December, the races in the first Alpine Skiing category – Slalom took place on the Cristelin Alta slope, bringing already the first champions in both men’s and women’s competition.

After some spectacular races, in the women’s competition the three winning places on the podium were taken by: Maja Chyla, from Jagiellonian University (POL) holding the gold medal, followed by Julia Zlatkova from Technical University Sofia (BUL) with the silver medal and Anna Rech from University of Udine (ITA), winning the bronze.

In the men's competition the first place went to Kamen Zlatkov, from Technical University Sofia (BUL), while the silver medal went to Gleb Mosesov, Armenian State University of Economics (ARM), followed by Jan Sanitrar from Technical University in Zvolen (SVK) who won the bronze medal.

In the men’s competition, the best three teams were:

• University of Bern (SUI)
• University of Grenoble Alpes (FRA)
• Armenian State University of Economics (ARM)

 15:34,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 26, ARMENPRESS. European Union Mission in Armenia (EUMA) monitors have conducted a security situation awareness patrol in Sotk adjacent to the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, EUMA has said.

“EUMA monitors conducted a security situation awareness patrol in Sotk adjacent to the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. The objective of the patrols is to observe and report on the security situation on the ground and to contribute to human security in conflict-affected areas,” EUMA said in a post on X.

 15:45,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 26, ARMENPRESS. The informal summit of the CIS has kicked off in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

The meeting is traditionally hosted by the Russian President ahead of New Year.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is among the participating leaders.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has invited CIS leaders to start the talks during a tour in the Saint Petersburg Palaces and Gardens complex.