Fifteen soldiers were killed and three others seriously injured in what authorities said was a major fire that broke out at a military barracks in Armenia early on Thursday.
Ruben Vardanyan, the Nagorno-Karabakh premier, refused to resign at the weekend amid speculation that the Armenian government is seeking his ouster because of Azerbaijan’s continuing blockade of Karabakh’s land link with Armenia.
French parliament speaker Yael Braun-Pivet expressed serious concern over Azerbaijan’s continuing blockade of the Lachin Corridor and reaffirmed France’s support for Armenia’s territorial integrity during an official visit to Yerevan on Friday.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian urged Nagorno-Karabakh’s leaders on Thursday to tone down their rhetoric and negotiate with Azerbaijan in order to end the continuing Azerbaijani blockade of the Lachin Corridor.
The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) on Wednesday reacted cautiously to the cancellation of joint exercises which Russia and other members of the Russian-led military alliance were scheduled to hold in Armenia this year.
The United States has again called for the immediate reopening of Nagorno-Karabakh’s land link with Armenia which has been blocked by Azerbaijan for the past month.
Nagorno-Karabakh’s political leaders continued to defend Russian peacekeeping forces on Friday after Yerevan accused them of doing little to reopen Karabakh’s sole land link with Armenia blocked by Azerbaijan.
Authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh have banned local restaurants from hosting large dinner parties and post-funeral gatherings, citing growing shortages of food resulting from a road blockade imposed by Azerbaijan.
Armenia is under strong pressure to join the “union state” of Russia and Belarus and open an “exterritorial corridor” to Azerbaijan’s Nakhichevan exclave, a senior Armenian official said on Tuesday, commenting on the continuing Azerbaijani blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Ignoring opposition objections, the National Assembly approved on Tuesday the Armenian government’s decision to set up a new and separate foreign intelligence agency.
Azerbaijan has restored natural gas supplies to Nagorno-Karabakh while continuing to block the sole road connecting the territory to Armenia, the authorities in Stepanakert said on Friday.
The Armenian parliament on Wednesday rejected a draft resolution condemning the Azerbaijani blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh, allegedly objecting to its reference to the Karabakh Armenians’ right to self-determination.
The Armenian government accused Azerbaijan on Tuesday of grossly violating a 2020 ceasefire agreement and creating a “humanitarian catastrophe” in Nagorno-Karabakh as the sole road connecting the territory to Armenia remained closed for a second day.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian accused Azerbaijan of planning “genocide” in Nagorno-Karabakh and urged Russian peacekeepers to restore its sole transport link with Armenia again blocked on Monday.
Nagorno-Karabakh’s leaders have said that they need international security guarantees in the form of UN Security Council authorization of Russia’s peacekeeping mission launched after the 2020 Armenian-Azerbaijani war.
Armenia and Azerbaijan are unlikely to finalize a bilateral peace treaty in the coming weeks due to lingering disagreements on its key terms, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said on Wednesday.
Nagorno-Karabakh’s main political groups have told Russian peacekeepers to refrain from significantly tightening security checks on the sole road connecting the Armenian-populated territory to Armenia.
The Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiating process has not reached a deadlock despite Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s decision to cancel a planned meeting with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, a senior Armenian lawmaker insisted on Wednesday.
Armenia hopes to negotiate a peace treaty with Azerbaijan “as soon as possible,” Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan insisted on Monday, denying Azerbaijani statements to the contrary.
Opposition lawmakers have denounced the Armenian government for hastily pushing through the parliament a bill that could make it easier for security services to destroy classified documents.
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