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    Categories: 2023

RFE/RL Armenian Service – 08/24/2023

                                        Thursday, 


Pashinian Reports ‘New Proposals’ On Peace Deal With Azerbaijan

        • Nane Sahakian

Belgium - EU Council President Charles Michel meets the leaders of Armenia and 
Azerbaijan in Brussels, July 15, 2023.


Armenia has presented Azerbaijan with new proposals regarding a bilateral peace 
treaty discussed by the two countries, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said on 
Thursday. He did not disclose them.

The treaty has been the main focus of Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations held 
over the past year. Despite reportedly making major progress, the two sides 
still disagree on a number of key issues. Those include mechanisms for 
delimiting the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and providing security guarantees for 
Nagorno-Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian population.

In May, Pashinian pledged to recognize Azerbaijani sovereignty over Karabakh 
through the treaty. He complained on August 3 that Baku is seeking to sign the 
kind of peace deal that would not preclude Azerbaijani territorial claims to 
Armenia.

The far-reaching concession offered by Pashinian was followed by the tightening 
of Azerbaijan’s blockade of Karabakh which aggravated severe shortages of food, 
medicine, fuel and other essential items there. In recent days, Baku has allowed 
groups of civilian residents of Karabakh to leave the region through an 
Azerbaijani checkpoint set up in the Lachin corridor.

“We have received reliable information that plans are being made to open the 
Lachin Corridor in one direction: that is, to allow exit from Nagorno-Karabakh 
and not to allow entry,” Pashinian said on Thursday at the start of a weekly 
cabinet meeting in Yerevan.

Pashinian claimed that the Azerbaijani government’s “main aim” is to drive the 
Karabakh Armenians out of the region “whether by famine, military operation or 
other means.” He also accused Baku of “torpedoing” direct talks with Karabakh’s 
representatives encouraged by Western powers.

“At the same time, I want to emphasize Armenia’s commitment to the peace 
agenda,” Pashinian went on. “I must inform you that we have passed on to the 
Azerbaijani side our new proposals on a peace treaty between Armenia and 
Azerbaijan.”

The Armenian premier shed no light on those proposals. In recent months, the 
United States and the European Union have stepped up their efforts to broker the 
peace treaty. The Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers held two rounds of 
intensive U.S.-mediated negotiations outside Washington in May and June. 
Meanwhile, the EU’s top official, Charles Michel, hosted a series of 
Armenian-Azerbaijani summits in Brussels.

By contrast, Russia warned early this month against attempts to “artificially” 
speed up the signing of the Armenian-Azerbaijani peace accord, pointing to 
lingering differences between Baku and Yerevan.




Armenia Again Touts Soaring Trade With Russia

        • Anush Mkrtchian

Armenia - Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and his Russian counterpart 
Mikhail Mishustin meet in Tsaghkadzor, .


Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian hailed on Thursday a continuing sharp increase in 
Armenia’s trade with Russia which results in large measure from Western economic 
sanctions against Moscow.

Meeting with his visiting Russian counterpart Mikhail Mishustin, Pashinian said 
it shows that Russian-Armenian relations remain “very strong” despite 
“problematic issues” causing friction between the two nations.

Russian-Armenian trade doubled last year and in the first half of this year as 
the South Caucasus country took advantage of the barrage of sanctions imposed on 
its main trading partner following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This, 
coupled with other cash inflows from Russia, is the main reason why the Armenian 
economy grew by over 12 percent in 2022.

“It must be said that our commercial exchange reached $5 billion in 2022 and 
this growth is continuing. This year we have already passed the $3 billion mark 
and hope that this year we will surpass last year’s volume,” Pashinian told 
Mishustin in his opening remarks.

“We have a very strong and durable relationship,” he added during talks held in 
the Armenian resort town of Tsaghkadzor on the sidelines of a meeting of the 
prime ministers of Eurasian Economic Union member states.

“Despite the difficult foreign economic situation, Russia’s trade and economic 
ties with Armenia are growing stronger … and this makes us happy,” Mishustin 
said for his part.

In line with Russia’s broader efforts to reduce its dependence on the U.S. 
dollar, Mishustin called for greater use of the Russian and Armenian currencies 
in bilateral trade. He also proposed that Moscow and Yerevan “accelerate work” 
on joint investment projects in Armenia.

The soaring trade is primarily driven by Armenian exports to Russia that tripled 
in 2022 and January-June 2023. Goods manufactured in third countries and 
re-exported by Armenian firms are thought to have accounted for most of that 
gain. They include consumer electronics as well as other hi-tech goods and 
components which Western powers say could be used by the Russian defense 
industry.

The Armenian government has faced in recent months strong pressure from the 
United States and the European Union to curb the re-export of these items. It 
announced in late May that Armenian exporters will now need government 
permission to deliver microchips, transformers, video cameras, antennas and 
other electronic equipment to Russia. Pashinian said at the time that despite 
its “strategic” relations with Russia, Armenia “cannot afford to be placed under 
Western sanctions.”

Washington has so far blacklisted only on one functioning Armenian company for 
allegedly helping Russia evade the sanctions.




Ruling Party Candidate Confident Of Yerevan Election Win

        • Karlen Aslanian
        • Robert Zargarian

Armenia - The ruling Civil Contract parrty's mayoral candidate, Tigran Avinian, 
campaigns in Yerevan's Erebuni district, .


The ruling Civil Contract party expects to score a landslide victory in the 
upcoming municipal elections in Yerevan, its mayoral candidate, Tigran Avinian, 
said on Thursday.

Avinian predicted that the party headed by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian will 
win more than 50 percent of the vote and retain control of the city council 
empowered to appoint the Armenian capital’s mayor.

“We are confident that we will manage to garner the majority [of votes,]” he 
told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.

“We have delivered on what we promised [in 2018,] and we are proposing a new, 
more ambitious five-year plan,” he said.

Civil Contract fell short of the outright majority in Yerevan during Armenia’s 
last general elections held in June 2021. Official vote results showed it doing 
much better in other, especially rural parts of the country. But the party 
should benefit this time around from the decision by the two main opposition 
alliances to boycott the local polls slated for September 17.

Armenia - Andranik Tevanian, an opposition mayoral candidate, addresses a 
campaign rally in Yerevan, .

Andranik Tevanian, a lawmaker representing one of those alliances, Hayastan, 
disagreed with the boycott and set up his own electoral bloc to join the mayoral 
race. Tevanian insisted that his victory would pave the way for Pashinian’s 
removal from power as he and his allies campaigned in Yerevan’s northern Arabkir 
district on Thursday.

“Our participation in the municipal elections in Yerevan is an opportunity to 
effect regime change at the national level,” he told local residents. “Regime 
change is the key precondition for ensuring the security of Armenia and 
Nagorno-Karabakh.”

Another opposition contender, the Aprelu Yerkir party, has also described the 
mayoral race as an opportunity to precipitate Pashinian’s ouster.

Avinian indicated that unlike in the last Yerevan elections held five years ago, 
Pashinian will not actively participate in the ruling party’s election campaign 
because of “much tougher” challenges facing his government.

Avinian also denied illegally using his administrative resources to gain unfair 
advantage over his rivals and facilitate his victory. A coalition of civic 
groups that will monitor the September 17 vote again accused him and Civil 
Contract of foul play in an extensive report released this week.




Belgian FM ‘Snubbed By Aliyev’


Armenia - Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib attends a joint news conference 
with her Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan, Yerevan, August 22, 2023.


Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has reportedly refused to meet Belgium’s 
visiting Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib after she urged Azerbaijan to lift its 
blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh and recognize Armenia’s borders.

Lahbib proceeded to Baku on Thursday two days after holding talks with Armenian 
leaders in Yerevan. She was expected to meet Aliyev during the trip.

The Azerbaijani government-linked news agency APA cited an unnamed government 
source as saying that the meeting will not take place because Lahbib made in 
Yerevan “pro-Armenian statements that are far from reality.”

Speaking at a joint news conference with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat 
Mirzoyan, Lahbib called on Baku to reciprocate Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s 
recent recognition of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. She also expressed 
serious concern over the worsening humanitarian situation in Karabakh, warning 
of a risk of famine in the Armenian-populated region.

“It is incumbent on Azerbaijan to ensure the security of Karabakh’s population 
and free traffic through the Lachin corridor,” said the top Belgian diplomat.

The Azerbaijani leadership has repeatedly dismissed similar appeals from the 
European Union, the United States and Russia. It denies blocking Karabakh’s sole 
land link with Armenia and says the international community should instead 
facilitate the region’s “reintegration” into Azerbaijan.



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