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    Categories: 2022

RFE/RL Armenian Report – 04/20/2022

                                        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
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