Wednesday, 


Pashinian Signals Support For Azeri Control Of Karabakh


Icelan - Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian addresses a Council of Europe 
summit in Reykjavik, .


Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian appeared to confirm on Wednesday that he agreed 
to recognize Azerbaijani sovereignty over Nagorno-Karabakh during the weekend 
talks with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev held in Brussels.

“Three days ago, with the mediation of European Council President Charles 
Michel, we made a step further, emphasizing that Armenia recognizes Azerbaijan’s 
territory of 86,600 square kilometers and Azerbaijan recognizes Armenia’s 
territory of 29,800 square kilometers,” Pashinian said in a speech delivered 
during a Council of Europe summit in Iceland.

The total Soviet-era area of Azerbaijan cited by him includes Karabakh.

Michel likewise said in Brussels that Aliyev and Pashinian “confirmed their 
unequivocal commitment to … respective territorial integrity of Armenia (29,800 
square kilometers) and Azerbaijan (86,600 square kilometers).” That was 
construed by Armenian opposition leaders as further proof of Pashinian’s 
readiness to help Baku regain control over Karabakh.

One of those leaders, Armen Ashotian, condemned Pashinian’s confirmation of 
Michel’s statement as “treasonous.” Pashinian thereby “annexed Karabakh to 
Azerbaijan,” Ashotian said in a Facebook post.

Commenting on the Brussels summit earlier this week, the Azerbaijani Foreign 
Ministry emphasized “Armenia’s acceptance of Azerbaijan’s internationally 
recognized territorial integrity.”

Pashinian stopped invoking the Karabakh Armenians’ right to self-determination a 
year ago. Since then, he has spoken instead of the need to protect their “rights 
and security.”

Karabakh’s leadership has criticized the Armenian premier’s statements on the 
conflict with Azerbaijan made over the past year. On Monday, it accused the 
European Union and Michel in particular of turning a blind eye to Azerbaijan’s 
five-month blockade of Karabakh’s sole land link with Armenia.

Speaking in Iceland’s capital Reykjavik, Pashinian also denounced the blockade. 
At the same time, he called for the start of “Baku-Stepanakert negotiations 
aimed at providing security and human rights for the Armenians in 
Nagorno-Karabakh under an international mechanism.”

Aliyev has repeatedly rejected such a mechanism and ruled out any status for the 
Armenian-populated region.




Armenian Soldier Killed In Fresh Borer Clash


ARMENIA -- Soldiers walk in a trench at an Armenia border post near the village 
of Sotk, June 18, 2021


An Armenian soldier was fatally wounded on Wednesday in what the Defense 
Ministry in Yerevan described as a fresh Azerbaijani truce violation on the 
Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

He died on his way to a hospital in Armenia’s eastern Gegharkunik province. The 
ministry said Azerbaijani forces also opened fire at an ambulance that evacuated 
the soldier, wounding a paramedic.

According to a ministry statement, the incident, denied by the Azerbaijani 
military, happened near the Armenian border village of Sotk. The area was the 
scene of deadly fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces last Thursday 
and Friday which reportedly involved artillery and combat drones.

The United States expressed serious concern at those clashes, urging both sides 
to withdraw troops from their long border.

The latest ceasefire violation at that border section was reported three days 
after Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham 
Aliyev made progress during peace talks in Brussels mediated by the European 
Union.

Baku seemed satisfied with the outcome of the latest Armenian-Azerbaijani 
summit. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry emphasized “Armenia’s acceptance of 
Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized territorial integrity.”




Armenia Also Reports Massive Seizure Of Cocaine

        • Anush Mkrtchian

Armenia - A photo of what the National Security Service described as cocaine 
seized by it on May 13, 2023.


An Armenian law-enforcement agency on Wednesday claimed to have seized about one 
ton of cocaine one day after an even bigger consignment of the drug, allegedly 
bound for Armenia, was found in Italy.

The National Security Service (NSS) said the cocaine was discovered in boxes of 
fruit imported by an Armenian company from Ecuador via Panama, Italy and 
Georgia. In a statement, the NSS did not name that company or report any arrests 
in connection with the unprecedented find.

The statement also said that the drugs were found on Saturday. It did not 
explain why the NSS waited for four days before announcing the largest-ever 
cocaine seizure in Armenia.

The security service refused to comment further when contacted by RFE/RL’s 
Armenian Service.

Armenia’s State Revenue Committee (SRC), which comprises the national customs 
service, also declined a comment. The SRC had made massive seizures of heroin 
smuggled from neighboring Iran in 2014, 2017 and 2021.

The NSS announcement came one day after police in Italy seized 2.7 tons of 
“extremely pure” cocaine which they said was destined for Armenia. The haul was 
found in refrigerated banana containers shipped to the southern Italian port of 
Gioia Tauro from Ecuador.

Armenia’s Office of the Prosecutor-General said that it is looking into the 
Italian police report.

Opposition politicians and other critics of the Armenian government seized upon 
the report to again blame it for soaring drug trafficking and abuse in Armenia. 
The number of drug drug-related crimes recorded by the Armenian police nearly 
doubled last year.

It is not clear whether NSS investigators believe that the huge quantity of the 
cocaine seized by them was intended for the small Armenian market or whether 
Armenia was used as a transit point.

Economy Minister Vahan Kerobian insisted that he does not know which Armenian 
food-importing company is accused of smuggled the drugs. “I know about this case 
as much as you do,” he told reporters.

“I can only say that we are very concerned about both these developments and the 
overall situation with drugs in Armenia,” the Hraparak daily quoted Kerobian as 
saying.




Russia’s Lavrov Blasts West’s ‘Provocative’ Policy On Armenia

        • Astghik Bedevian

U.S. - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov listens as he chairs a UN Security 
Council meeting at the U.N. headquarters in New York, April 24, 2023.


Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has accused the West of pressuring 
Armenia to end Russia’s military presence in the South Caucasus country and rely 
instead on the United States for defense.

“We have information that they are signaling to the Armenians, ‘Come to us, kick 
the Russians out of your territory, remove the [Russian] military base and 
border guards too, the Americans will help to ensure your security,” he told the 
Russian TV channel Tsargrad in an interview broadcast on Wednesday.

Lavrov condemned the alleged Western policy as a “blatant provocation.” The 
Armenian Foreign Ministry declined to immediately comment on his claims.

Lavrov already decried in March “undisguised attempts by Western countries to 
estrange Armenia from Russia.” He also renewed Russian allegations that the U.S. 
and the European Union are seeking to hijack Armenian-Azerbaijani agreements 
brokered by Moscow during and after the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The traditionally close Russian-Armenian relations have deteriorated 
significantly since last September due to what Yerevan sees as Moscow’s 
reluctance to defend it against Azerbaijani military attacks on Armenian 
territory.

Armenia - Russian and Armenian troops hold a joint military exercise, November 
24, 2021.

In January, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian went as far as to question 
the need for close military ties with Russia. Pashinian said that they may be 
putting Armenia’s security and territorial integrity at greater risk. The 
Russian Foreign Ministry dismissed the claim as “absurd.”

These lingering tensions have fuelled speculation about a pro-Western shift in 
Armenia’s geopolitical orientation.

The Russian Foreign Ministry claimed that the West wants to “squeeze Russia out 
of the region” when it reacted in February to the deployment of 100 or so EU 
monitors to Armenia’s volatile border with Azerbaijan. The monitoring mission 
was requested by the Armenian government.

Speaking to Tsargrad, Lavrov again rebuked Yerevan for refusing a similar 
mission offered by the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in 
November.

“If Yerevan had confirmed what had already been agreed [by CSTO member states] … 
I am convinced that Armenia would have benefited and gotten a more stable 
situation,” he said.

Pashinian’s government has attributed its refusal to Russia’s and other CSTO 
allies’ failure to publicly condemn the “Azerbaijani aggression” against 
Armenia. It has given the same reason for rejecting “military-technical 
assistance” offered by the Russian-led military alliance last fall.


Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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