Wednesday, Armenian, Chinese FMs Discuss Karabakh CHINA -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi delivers his opening remarks at the Lanting Forum on in Beijing, February 22, 2021 Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan reportedly briefed his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the current state of the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process in a phone call on Wednesday. “Presenting Armenia’s position on the establishment of peace and stability in the region, Ararat Mirzoyan stressed the importance of negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan in different directions as well as the role of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship in the settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,” reported the Armenian Foreign Ministry. “The two sides emphasized the viability of the existing internationally accepted format of negotiations as well as the promotion of the peace process,” it said in a statement. The Minsk Group has for decades been co-headed by the United States, Russia and France. Moscow says that Washington and Paris have stopped cooperating with it within that framework because of the war in Ukraine. Yerevan has expressed hope that the three world powers will resume their joint mediation efforts. Wang and Mirzoyan also stressed the importance of unblocking Armenia’s economic and transport links with Azerbaijan. They agreed that this will help to boost Chinese-Armenian commercial ties, added the Foreign Ministry statement. China is already Armenia’s second most important trading partner after Russia. Chinese-Armenian trade surged by over 30 percent, to $1.26 billion, last year. The two foreign ministers also discussed Chinese-Armenian relations. They said their governments are ready to “resolutely strengthen and deepen” them, according to the statement. Chinese President Xi Jinping and his new Armenian counterpart Vahagn Khachaturian made similar pledges earlier this month when they exchanged congratulatory messages on the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two states. Pashinian Upbeat On Russian-Armenian Trade Russia - Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian meet in Moscow, . Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian expressed confidence on Wednesday that Armenia and Russia will deepen their economic ties despite what he called new “common challenges” facing the two countries. Pashinian discussed with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin ways of increasing Russian-Armenian trade and launching joint economic projects on the second day of his official visit to Russia. “We are certainly interested in expanding bilateral cooperation and launching new joint projects in areas such as energy, mining, transport infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, agro-industrial complex, digital economy, high technology, and innovation,” Mishustin told Pashinian. The Russian and Armenian governments should speed up preparations for the signing of a new program of bilateral economic cooperation, he said in his opening remarks at the talks. “I think that we are facing common challenges in the current situation,” Pashinian said, for his part. “But there are also opportunities which ... we should try to use.” “I am sure that in the future we will continue to cooperate very effectively and find new ways and solutions for the further growth of mutual trade,” he added. Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and other senior officials attend a Russian-Armenian business forum in Yerevan, September 20, 2021. The volume of Russian-Armenian trade grew strongly in 2021 and in January and February this year, solidifying Russia’s status as Armenia’s number trading partner. But it reportedly shrunk in March following the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the resulting Western sanctions imposed on Russia. Visiting Moscow last week, Armenian Economy Minister Kerobian said the two governments should work together to “urgently eliminate the causes of the decline and restore growth.” He also announced that Armenia has started paying for Russian natural gas in rubles. Citing the “illegal sanctions,” Mishustin called for a greater use of the Russian as well as Armenian national currencies in mutual commercial operations. Pashinian and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the impact of the sanctions during their meeting held outside Moscow on Tuesday. In a joint declaration issued after the talks, they criticized “the use of unilateral restrictive measures by a number of countries.” They also pledged to “jointly overcome the challenges caused by these measures.” Because of its close economic links with Russia, Armenia is expected to be significantly affected by the Western sanctions. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have forecast that economic growth in the South Caucasus country will slow down considerably this year. Former Foreign Minister Explains Resignation • Sargis Harutyunyan ARMENIA -- Armenian Foreign Minister Ara Ayvazian at a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Yerevan, May 6, 2021 Former Foreign Minister Ara Ayvazian has shed more light on his resignation last year and signaled support for the Armenian opposition’s stated efforts to oust Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian. Ayvazian stepped down on May 27, 2021 following an emergency meeting of Armenia’s Security Council which discussed mounting tensions on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. The meeting came days after Azerbaijani troops reportedly advanced into Armenian territory at several sections of the border. Speaking at a farewell meeting with the Armenian Foreign Ministry officials on May 31, Ayvazian hinted that he decided to quit because of disagreeing with government decisions which he believes put the country’s sovereignty and national security at risk. He did not go into details. His four deputies also tendered their resignations. Ayvazian said late on Tuesday that he objected to Pashinian’s calls for a mutual withdrawal of Armenian and Azerbaijani forces from contested border areas and the deployment of international observers there. “I believe that the mutual withdrawal [proposal] was a serious tactical mistake on our part,” he told journalists. Ayvazian argued that the United States, France and other foreign powers stopped telling Baku to pull back its forces from Armenia’s Syunik and Gegharkunik provinces after Pashinian voiced his proposal. He said the proposal meant that Yerevan regards the border areas seized by Azerbaijani forces as disputed territory. Armenia - Opposition leader Artur Vanetsian holds a news conference in Liberty Square, Yerevan, April 18, 2022. Ayvazian, who was appointed as foreign minister in November 2020, spoke with reporters as he visited Yerevan’s Liberty Square to talk to Artur Vanetsian, an opposition leader who began a nonstop sit-there on Sunday. Vanetsian’s Fatherland party and other major opposition groups have pledged to stage coordinated street protests in a bid to topple Pashinian over they see as unacceptable concessions to Azerbaijan planned by him. Pashinian said last week that the international community is pressing Armenia to “lower a bit the bar on the question of Nagorno-Karabakh’s status” and recognize Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. He signaled Yerevan’s intention to make such concessions to Baku, fuelling more opposition allegations that he has agreed to Azerbaijani control over Karabakh. Asked whether he supports the opposition push for regime change, Ayvazian said: “I resigned because I thought that the policy pursued [by Pashinian’s government] does not help to further our national interests.” Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL Copyright (c) 2022 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc. 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.