Pashinyan discusses Nagorno Karabakh with Putin

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone conversation, Kremlin press service reports. The phone talk was initiated by the Armenian side.

The Kremlin readout says that the sides continued the discussions around the situation in Nagorno Karabakh. The importance of consistent implementation of the trilateral agreements of 9 November 2020, 11 January, and 26 November 2021 of the leaders of Armenia, Russia, and Azerbaijan was reaffirmed. The role of the Russian peacekeeping contingent was underscored in ensuring stability in the region.

Certain topical subjects of further developing the Armenia-Russia strategic partnership and allied relations were addressed.

 
Search and rescue operations stop in the area of “Surmalu” as the body or remains of the last missing citizen are not found

During the last few days, search operations were carried out to find the citizen who was considered missing as a result of the explosion in the “Surmalu” shopping center. Detailed search operations were carried out in the epicenter of the explosion and in the entire nearby area, in some areas – even twice.

As a result of the search, unfortunately, the citizen’s body or his remains were not found. The spokesperson for the Ministry of Emergency Situations Hayk Kostanyan informs that within 43 hours after the fire and explosion, the rescue workers brought out 26 citizens from the rubble, including 10 people and 16 bodies.

 
In a conversation with his French counterpart, Armenian FM highlights the importance of repatriation of Armenian POWs

Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan had a telephone conversation with French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna.  The counterparts expressed satisfaction with the high level of special Armenian-French relations. 
 Issues of regional security and stability were touched upon. Minister Mirzoyan presented to his counterpart the approaches of the Armenian side regarding the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and the establishment of regional peace.  

The parties emphasized the role of France as the Co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group in promoting the process of peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. 

 Referring to the solution to the humanitarian problems caused by the 44-day war, the Armenian Foreign Minister stressed the need to repatriate the Armenian prisoners of war and civilians illegally held in Azerbaijan, and to reveal the fates of the forcibly disappeared and the missing.

 
The ECHR rejected Azerbaijan’s application regarding the destruction of property in Berdzor and surrounding villages

On August 18, 2022, Azerbaijan applied to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) requesting that Armenia immediately and unconditionally oblige the forces and structures under its control to stop the destruction of property in the town of Berdzor and the surrounding villages, including the burning of houses, and to provide information on the measures taken, RA Representative for International Legal Affairs informs.

On August 22, the ECHR rejected Azerbaijan’s application and noted that there was no need to apply a new interim measure.

 
Short-term compulsory military service on the condition of paying money to the RA state budget: The new project of the Defense Ministry

The Armenian Ministry of Defense has submitted a new project for public discussion, which proposes to introduce a new system of contractual military service, as well as short-term compulsory military service of rank-and-file members, on the condition of paying 24 million AMD to the RA state budget. 

The 2021-2026 program of the Armenian Government envisages the creation of legislative bases for the reduction of the period of compulsory military service in a gradual and regulated manner.

 
Other News

• 9 participants of an anti-Putin protest were detained from Yerevan’s Freedom Square.

• The Armenian government allocated 5 billion 551 million AMD for the reconstruction of the alternative road connecting Armenia with Artsakh.

• The government of Armenia will not provide compensation to the businesses that were affected by the recent explosion in Yerevan’s Surmalu shopping center.