Pashinyan referred to the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict 

With the Lachin Corridor closed for nearly three months, we have a new escalation of the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh. RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced this during the Government session, recalling the sabotage attack that took place on March 5. Pashinyan emphasized that all three soldiers who died were born in Nagorno-Karabakh.

"This circumstance becomes especially important considering the statement made by the President of Azerbaijan in Munich on February 18, 2023. He admitted that there is an international agreement according to which they should discuss with the representatives of Nagorno Karabakh the issue of their rights and security. However, the President of Azerbaijan emphasized that they are going to have these discussions with people born and living in Nagorno-Karabakh.

On March 1, a meeting of representatives of NK and Azerbaijan took place at the headquarters of the Russian peacekeeping force in NK, and 4 days after that, Azerbaijan launched the provocation of March 5, which was nothing but a terrorist act," said Pashinyan.

According to Nikol Pashinyan, the first goal of the March 5 terrorist attack is to disturb further negotiations with the representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh and to create the necessary background for a new military provocation.

"In this regard, I must emphasize that the Foreign Ministry of Artsakh issued a statement yesterday, expressing readiness to continue the conversation with Azerbaijan, and this is an extremely important statement. I think it is necessary to create reliable international mechanisms so that an uninterrupted and institutional conversation between Baku and Stepanakert takes place, and this can become an effective guarantee of the implementation of the above-mentioned international agreement," RA Prime Minister said.

The next goal of the March 5 provocation, according to Pashinyan, was to create false evidence that weapons and ammunition are being transported from Armenia to NK.

RA Security Council Secretary met with the National Security Adviser of the Prime Minister of Greece

On March 9, within the framework of his working visit to Greece, RA Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan met with the National Security Adviser of the Prime Minister of Greece, Thanos Dokos.

Grigoryan expressed his condolences to Dokos on the March 2 fatal train disaster in Greece.

Secretary Grigoryan presented the humanitarian crisis created in Nagorno-Karabakh as a result of Azerbaijan's illegal blocking of the Lachin Corridor and the challenges of RA's foreign policy. In that context, Grigoryan emphasized the need to immediately send an international fact-finding mission to Nagorno-Karabakh and Lachin Corridor.

Azerbaijan challenges efforts to establish peace in the region with continuous provocations. Mirzoyan to the UAE Minister of State

Within the framework of the ministerial session of the Council of the League of Arab States, RA Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan met with the Minister of State of the United Arab Emirates Khalifa Shahen Al-Marar on March 8 in Cairo.

Referring to the security situation in the South Caucasus, Ararat Mirzoyan emphasized that the Azerbaijani side challenges efforts to establish peace and stability in the region with its continuous provocations and extremist aspirations.

RA Foreign Minister presented to his colleague the humanitarian situation created in Nagorno-Karabakh as a result of the blocking of the Lachin Corridor and emphasized the need to unblock the corridor without preconditions. In this context, the implementation of the legally binding decision made by the International Court of Justice on February 22 regarding the application of urgent measures against Azerbaijan was emphasized.

In the context of interaction on international platforms, Minister Mirzoyan referred to Azerbaijan's manipulation of the religious factor, groundless attempts to undermine traditional warm relations between Armenia and the Armenian people and the Arab world, considering them unacceptable and expressing hope that the member states of the League of Arab States will oppose exclusively political and humanitarian measures on other international platforms and any further attempt to give a religious tone to the problems of nature.

There is no obstacle to peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia - Aliyev

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has stated that there are no obstacles to achieving peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia. According to the APA agency, the leader of that country made such a statement at the 10th global conference in Baku.

"What was agreed between Azerbaijan and Armenia in October last year, in particular, regarding respect for each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity, actually shows that there is no obstacle to achieving peace," Aliyev said.

Addressing the entire course of the Artsakh conflict, Aliyev claimed that "Azerbaijan tried to settle the conflict with Armenia peacefully". "Conflicts can be resolved in two ways: peacefully and non-peacefully. We tried very hard to settle the conflict with Armenia in a peaceful way, despite the fact that a humanitarian crisis has arisen in Azerbaijan as a result of the Armenian occupation," said Aliyev.

According to him, the OSCE Minsk Group wanted the Artsakh conflict to remain frozen once and for all.

Cabinet approves ratifying Armenia-Georgia simplified travel requirements

The RA Cabinet approved on March 9 the bill on ratifying the agreement on introducing simplified visa-free travel document requirements between Armenia and Georgia whereby nationals of the two countries will have the opportunity to cross the border only with ID cards instead of passports. The agreement was signed on January 12, 2023.

It will take effect after ratification by parliament.

Search for solutions to the situation over Lachin Corridor underway, Zakharova

The search for solutions to the situation around Lachin and Nagorno-Karabakh is underway, the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Maria Zakharova, said.

Zakharova said that there is communication with Armenia and Azerbaijan in cooperation with the Russian Foreign Ministry and with the participation of the Russian peacekeeping force, without further elaboration. 

Other News

• On March 8, the body of serviceman Andranik Ohanyan was found.

• Defense units did not open fire in the direction of Azerbaijani positions- Artsakh Defense Ministry.

• Ararat Mirzoyan and the Egyptian Foreign Minister emphasized the importance of maintaining the attention of the international community to the region.