Category: 2021

Putin, Macron discuss upcoming Karabakh talks, Kremlin says

Alex Jidarian
TASS, Russia
Jan 10 2021
 
 
 
French President supported Russia’s efforts in facilitating settlement in Nagorno-Karabakh
 
 
MOSCOW, January 10. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron have discussed in a phone conversation the upcoming trilateral meeting of leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia scheduled for January 11 in Moscow. According to the Kremlin press service, the French President supported Russia’s efforts in facilitating settlement in Nagorno-Karabakh.
 
"Within the framework of coordinating actions of co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russian President Vladimir Putin had a phone conversation with President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron discussing some issues related to the upcoming trilateral meeting of leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia on January 11 in Moscow. Taking into account the consistent implementation of the joint November 9, 2020 statement and the stabilization of the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, it was noted that above all during this meeting it is planned to consider further steps on facilitating peaceful life in the region," the statement said.
 
"The French President expressed support for Russia’s efforts in facilitating settlement in Nagorno-Karabakh. The importance of immediate humanitarian aid to residents affected by military clashes was emphasized, including along the lines of relevant international organizations," the press service noted.
 
Putin and Macron wished each other happy holidays and agreed to continue contacts at various levels.
 
As the Kremlin press service reported earlier on Sunday, the trilateral talks of Vladimir Putin, Ilham Aliyev and Nikol Pashinyan will be held on Monday, January 11, in Moscow at the initiative of the Russian head of state. The sides plan to review the implementation of the November 9, 2020 statement of the three leaders on Nagorno-Karabakh and discuss steps to resolve the regional issues.
 
On November 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint statement on a complete ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh starting from November 10. The Russian leader said the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides would maintain the positions that they had held and Russian peacekeepers would be deployed to the region.
 

Putin holds government meeting on Nagorno-Karabakh settlement

Emil Karabekian
TASS, Russia
Jan 10 2021
Russian Politics & DiplomacyJanuary 10, 16:33
MOSCOW, January 10. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting with senior officials on issues of the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement ahead of his talks with the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders, the Kremlin said on Sunday.
 
"Ahead of a meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Vladimir Putin held a government meeting on issues of Nagorno-Karabakh settlement and the situation in the South Caucasus," as follows from a press statement posed on the Kremlin website.
 
Participants in the meeting included Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, director of th Federal Security Service Alexander Bortnikov, and director of the Foreign Intelligence Service Sergei Naryshkin.
 
Other topics included issues of security during the New Year holdays.
 
The Kremlin press service said earlier that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan were expected to arrive in Moscow on Monday, January 11, to take part in trilateral talks on the initiative of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The sides plan to discuss the implementation of their November 9, 2020 statement on Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as further steps to resolve problems of the region.
 
Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27, with intense battles raging in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The area experienced flare-ups of violence in the summer of 2014, in April 2016 and this past July.
 
On November 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint statement on a complete ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh starting from November 10. Under the document, the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides stopped at the positions that they had held and Russian peacekeepers were deployed along the engagement line in Nagorno-Karabakh and along the Lachinsky corridor that connects Armenia with the enclave to exercise control of the ceasefire observance. Apart from that, a number of districts came over to Baku’s control.

No Plans to Sign Documents on Nagorno-Karabakh Settlement at Trilateral Talks in Moscow on 11 Jan

Edgar Tavakalian
Sputnik
Jan 10 2021
 
 
 
 
World
12:21 GMT 10.01.2021(updated 12:43 GMT 10.01.2021)
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Trilateral talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan will take place in Moscow on Monday at Putin's initiative, the Kremlin said on Sunday.
 
 
At the initiative of Russian President Vladimir Putin, negotiations between the Russian president, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan will occur on in Moscow, a press release said.
 
 
Trilateral talks between Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict take place in Moscow, 9 October 2020
© Sputnik / Russian Foreign Ministry
 
Trilateral talks between Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict take place in Moscow, 9 October 2020
 
The three sides are due to discuss the course of the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement, as well as further steps in this direction.
 
"It is planned to discuss the progress of the implementation of the statement by the leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Russia on Nagorno-Karabakh from 9 November 2020 and further steps to resolve disputes in the region. Separate talks of Vladimir Putin with Ilham Aliyev and Nikol Pashinyan are planned", the Kremlin said.
No documents on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement or any other territorial issues are scheduled to be signed at the upcoming meeting, Pashinyan's spokesperson Mane Gevorgyan said.
 
"In Moscow, the signing of documents on the resolution of the Karabakh issue or any other territorial disputes is not envisaged. If the talks are able to reach an agreement on the agenda, concerning the economic field, prisoner swaps, and the issue of those missing, it is possible to sign a joint statement after the meeting", Gevorgyan wrote on Facebook.
 
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan flared up in late September, resulting in military and civilian casualties on both sides. The hostilities ended after the sides agreed to a Russian-brokered ceasefire on 9 November. The deal resulted in the loss of most of the territories controlled by the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh republic and the deployment of Russian peacekeepers to the region.
 

No document on any territorial issue will be signed in Moscow, Armenian PM’s Spokesperson says

Adrine Hakobian
Public Radio of Armenia
Jan 11 2021
Economic issues will be discussed during the trilateral meeting between the Armenian Prime Minister, the Presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan, PM’s Spokesperson Mane Govorgyan said.
 
According to her, reference will be made to the opening of regional communication routes, international cargo transportation, including from Armenia to the Russian Federation and the Islamic Republic of Iran, as well as from the central parts of Armenia via Nakhichevan railway to Syunik region.
 
“The Azerbaijani side and some Armenian circles are constantly circulating the topic of the so-called “Meghri Corridor,” but as it has been mentioned many times, the trilateral statement of November 9 does not contain any provision on creating a corridor through Meghri or Armenia, in general,” she said.
 
She stressed that for the Armenian side, the issue of the return of the captives, the search for the bodies of the victims, the fate of the missing are crucial.
 
“Without a solution to these issues or significant progress, it will be extremely difficult to effectively discuss the economic agenda, and the Armenian side considers the discussion of this issue one of the key topics of the Moscow meeting,” Gevorgyan added.
 
She stressed that no document on the settlement of the Karabakh issue or any territorial issue is expected to be signed in Moscow.
 
The Spokesperson noted that a joint statement on the results of the meeting could be issued in case agreement is reached on issues on the agenda, i.e. economic issues, exchange of prisoners and missing persons.
 
The Prime Minister of Armenia, the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Russia are expected to meet in Moscow on January 11.
 

Inside the Armenian ghost town with a population of three

Jhanna Virabian
The Times, UK
Jan 10 2021
PHOTOGRAPHY SPECIAL
Photographer Yulia Grigoryants visits the last scientists at a former Soviet research base
Yulia Grigoryants
Sunday , 12.01am GMT, The Sunday Times
On the snow-covered flanks of Mount Aragats in Armenia stands an almost deserted research station. Once upon a time it was a vibrant centre of physics concerned with the study of cosmic rays — high-energy subatomic particles thrown out by our sun, exploding stars in distant galaxies and even black holes. Now just a skeleton crew remains at the site, surrounded by empty buildings from a bygone era.
 
The Aragats Cosmic Ray Research Station was established in 1943, when Armenia was part of the Soviet Union. In its heyday about 100 scientists were based here, 3,200 metres above sea level. Today that number has dwindled to just three — two researchers working on a monthly rotation and a chef, living an isolated existence in winter, except for the occasional delivery of food and supplies.
 
There had been great hopes for the station in its early years, including ambitions to conduct the world’s largest experiment to detect very high-energy cosmic rays. But years of war, economic turmoil and the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 thwarted the project. Advancements in technology mean computers have now all but replaced humans on similar projects. Today giant particle accelerators such as the Large Hadron Collider at Cern lead the field.
 
Yet work still continues at Aragats. Over recent years the station has focused on recording and analysing space weather and investigating radiation that hits the Earth’s surface during thunderstorms.
Artash Petrosyan, 70, the research station’s chef, takes a stroll around the deserted site
©YULIA GRIGORYANTS
Artash in the kitchen where he has worked for more than 30 years. It once used to feed about 100 scientists
©YULIA GRIGORYANTS
Lab assistant Karen, 26, plays pool alone on a dusty table to kill time between shifts
©YULIA GRIGORYANTS
A room serving as both office and bedroom for lab assistants working on rotation
©YULIA GRIGORYANTS
Ageing electronic equipment for measuring particle showers, created when high-energy particles from deep space collide with those in the Earth’s atmosphere
©YULIA GRIGORYANTS
Dinner for two as the site’s occupants, Karen and Artash, sit down together to eat. Same time again tomorrow?
©YULIA GRIGORYANTS
A tattered poster from 1988 — when the station was a globally renowned centre for the study of cosmic rays
©YULIA GRIGORYANTS
A forest of cables links equipment that powered advanced particle detectors focusing on high-energy cosmic rays
©YULIA GRIGORYANTS
The only way to reach the research station in winter, when the average temperature drops to -14C, is a nine-mile hike through howling winds and heavy snow
©YULIA GRIGORYANTS
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/inside-the-armenian-ghost-town-with-a-population-of-three-tzgn6nzn7?fbclid=IwAR0UrBw4AhW5esQrF-or2KpnYCnnvf_6UaGX_8HH6MIBgLE_UXcfMxioZ58

Putin to host first post-war talks between Armenia, Azerbaijan

Alex Jidarian
Hindustan Times, India
Jan 10 2021
 
The talks will focus on aiding residents of the war zone and unblocking economic and transportation links between the countries.
 
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev plan to meet in Moscow Monday for the first time since their countries fought a 44-day war.
 
The talks, which will also include Russian President Vladimir Putin, will focus on aiding residents of the war zone and unblocking economic and transportation links between the countries, the Kremlin said in a statement Sunday. Putin initiated the meeting, according to the release.
 
Read more: Russia 2020 output at lowest in nearly a decade
 
More than 5,500 soldiers on both sides died in fighting over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh before Russia brokered a truce on Nov. 10. Armenia withdrew from several Azerbaijani regions it had occupied for nearly three decades under the deal, which is being overseen by Russian peacekeepers.
 

Civil disobedience actions being held near Armenian PM Pashinyan’s residency

Emil Lazarian
News.am, Armenia
Jan 10 2021
Civil disobedience actions being held near Armenian PM Pashinyan's residency
Civil disobedience actions are being held near Pashinyan's residency on Sunday.
 
The participants demand the PM reveal what he is going to sign during the meeting in Moscow, the Mediaport Telegram channel reported.
 
Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan is scheduled to visit Moscow on Monday to meet with Russian president Vladimir Putin and Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev. Pashinyan is also expected to hold a one-by-one meeting with Putin.

Armenia and Artsakh security chiefs meet near Vorotan and Shurnukh

Bedik Zaminian
News.am, Armenia

Jan 10 2021
The National Security Service of Armenia claims that the information about the planned meeting of the directors of the National Security Service of Armenia and the State Security Service of Azerbaijan in the Tavush region is false.
 
“A meeting in a similar format took place a few days ago in the neutral zone of the Ararat region bordering the village of Yeraskh. A similar meeting was held today in the settlements of Vorotan and Shurnukh in the Syunik province, during which the exchange of prisoners and the search for the missing were discussed," the statement noted. "The Director of the National Security Service acts exclusively within the powers granted by the law."
 
 

Catholicos of Great House of Cilicia: The territorial integrity of Armenia is an unconditional all-Armenian commitment

Janet Ekmekjian
News.am, Armenia 

Jan 10 2021
20:51, 10.01.2021
The territorial integrity of Armenia as well as the lasting and inviolable preservation of its statehood is an unconditional all-Armenian commitment, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram I said in a statement.
 
The statement runs as follows:
 
As we have noticed recently, the truce announcement which was called to stop the war unleashed by Azeri-Turkish army against Artsakh, contains such indefinite and ambiguous clauses that can endanger the security, independence and territorial integrity of Armenia. The dangerous items of the truce have to be clarified at the request of Armenian and with the support of Russia. The territorial integrity of Armenia as well as the lasting and inviolable preservation of its statehood is an unconditional all-Armenian commitment. At the crucial moments of its centuries-old history our people have always and selflessly said its “no” to the dangers threatening our nation and our Motherland.
 
We are not aware of the details of the Putin-Pashinyan-Aliyev meeting to be held on January 11 in Moscow. It is our demand, and we believe also the demand of our people, that Yerevan by its signature under any agreement did not place in jeopardy the sovereignty, statehood and territorial integrity of Armenia.