2-9 November

Հայացք Երևանից 09 November 2019

Weekly update

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will pay an official visit to Armenia on November 10-11. Mr. Lavrov is expected to hold meetings with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, President Armen Sarkissian, Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan. Russian minister will visit Armenian Genocide Memorial and will attend the opening of an exhibition dedicated to the 75th victory in the Great Patriotic War. Lavrov will also hold a meeting with the students of the Diplomatic School and other universities, informed News.am.

US President Donald Trump's upcoming meeting with the Turkish leader is coinciding with a moment which may be truly characterized as the "worst ever" in two countries' relations, a Yerevan-based expert in international relations said Friday, warning of the possible impact on the Armenian Genocide recognition issue. ″It is a very complicated period indeed, which will potentially have its essential significance. At the current phase, we are dealing with a situation that sees the Turkey-US relations in a state which isn’t absolutely normal for countries having a strategic significance for one another,″ Suren Sargsyan said in an interview with Tert.am.

The working visit of the President of Armenia started from Chinari border community in Tavush marz. The President met and conversed with the residents who came to greet him. Observing a dance performance by the children of Chinari, the President invited them to visit the Presidential Palace on New Year. President Sarkissian said that he had visited Chinari for the first time in his student years and had been particularly impressed with it the land’s nature and hospitality of the residents, said the Presidential Office.

According to TASS, Russia and the United States should adopt a statement at the highest level that nuclear war is unacceptable, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday. Opening a meeting with Ernest Moniz, chief executive officer of the Nuclear Threat Initiative and former US Secretary of Energy, Lavrov noted that the US politician’s new post was not less important than his previous one.

On November 6, 2019, during the second China International Import Expo (CIIE), a forum was held on the topic “Consultation, Contribution, Shared Benefits and Global Governance.” Contributors were from North and South America, Europe, and Asia, said China-India Dialogue. Keynote speaker Raffi K. Hovannisian, Armenian First Minister of Foreign Affairs and founder and president of the Center for National and International Studies, spoke of commonalities between China and Armenia, and noted that the ancient Silk Road ties between the two countries boded well for future ties, and that Armenia was continuing its historical role as a connection between East and West.

Maximalist approaches will not lead to peace in Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanian said in his answer to a question from an Azerbaijani lawmaker at an international event in Stockholm, Sweden. On November 5, the top Armenian diplomat attended a ministerial meeting of six former Soviet nations participating in the European Union’s Eastern Partnership Program, including Azerbaijan, that marked its 10th anniversary, informed Azatutyun.am.

The European Union is not only interested in the ongoing judicial reforms in Armenia, but also supports them, Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia, Ambassador Andrea Wiktorin told Armenpress reporter today in Gyumri. “The European Union in Armenia is in a very close contact with all concerned sides and is interested in supporting the Armenian government in the implementation of the reform agenda and sustainable democratic developments. Therefore, the EU supports the implementation of judicial reforms, and our agencies at the Brussels headquarters are in a very close contact with the Armenian government,” she said.

President Tayyip Erdogan may call off a visit to Washington next week in protest at votes in the House of Representatives to recognize mass killings of Armenians a century ago as genocide and to seek sanctions on Turkey, three Turkish officials said Reuters. Erdogan is due in Washington on Nov. 13 at President Donald Trump’s invitation, but said last week that the votes put a “question mark” over the plans.

The United States Embassy announced that the U.S. Government has further increased assistance funding to Armenia in 2019, said Armenpress. “The United States has sought to support the development of democratic processes and institutions in Armenia for the last 27 years, and we certainly do not intend to change that now, at a time when democracy in Armenia is stronger than ever,” U.S. Ambassador Lynne M. Tracy said.