Armenian News - NEWS-am presents the daily digest of related top news as of 04.04.22:

  • Two days before the Pashinyan-Aliyev meeting in Brussels on April 6, Baku said there will be progress in the process of normalization of relations when Armenia rejects its territorial claims to Azerbaijan.

As Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan Hikmet Hajiyev, noted, Azerbaijan has handed over to Yerevan the draft of the basic principles of the peace agreement.

He insisted that the 5-point document includes the principles of the Helsinki Accords.

"Armenia and Azerbaijan must recognize each other's territorial integrity, sovereignty and inviolability of borders, as well as refrain from the use of force and the threat of force against territorial integrity," he said.

Armenia, in turn, said that Baku's proposals are acceptable, but it supplemented them with its proposals and said it is ready to start talks immediately on the basis of complete principles. Azerbaijan did not respond to Armenia's proposal.

Meanwhile, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Zbigniew Rau called on Armenia and Azerbaijan to participate in peace talks in good faith.

The OSCE Chairman-in-Office also welcomed the diplomatic initiative aimed at normalizing relations between Armenia and Turkey.

  • Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, who is in Yerevan, met yesterday with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, President Vahagn Khachaturyan and Speaker of the National Assembly Alen Simonyan.

He also visited the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial of Armenian Genocide and laid flowers . At a joint press conference following his meeting with his Italian counterpart, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan reaffirmed the readiness of the Armenian side to start negotiations for a peace agreement with Azerbaijan under the mandate of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs.

  • Armenian opposition parties called on everyone to join the rally, which will be held on April 5 at Freedom Square in Yerevan.

The opposition accused the current government of fulfilling the demands of Turkey and Azerbaijan.

According to the, the current government “is ready to include Karabakh in Azerbaijan”․

“We appeal to everyone - to parties and individuals, to intellectuals and non-governmental organizations, to Armenians from Armenia, Karabakh and the Diaspora. Let's stand shoulder to shoulder and jointly present our demands,” the opposition parties said in a statement,

  • French President Emmanuel Macron said he wants to completely block the export of Russian coal and oil to the European Union following the events in the Ukrainian city of Bucha.

Bucha lies 37 km northwest of Kyiv and this weekend when journalists visited, it was a scene of shattered buildings and streets full of corpses.

The French President said that this week he will discuss the issue of further sanctions against Russia with his European partners.

Macron also expressed readiness to assist Ukraine in investigating the events in Bucha.

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Meanwhile, the economy minister of Slovakia, which relies on Russian natural gas for around 85% of its demand, said the country could not be cut off from Russian gas flows, Reuters reported.

Slovak Economy Minister Richard Sulik said, if there is a condition to pay in rubles, then we pay in rubles. Sulik added Slovakia would continue to work on a common approach with the EU.

And Lithuania, which was nearly 100 percent reliant on Russia for gas in 2015, said late Saturday that it has now cut itself off entirely.

"Seeking full energy independence from Russian gas, in response to Russia's energy blackmail in Europe and the war in Ukraine, Lithuania has completely abandoned Russian gas," Lithuania's energy ministry said.

In the meantime, Germany, which has been reliant on Russian gas imports, has been resistant to an energy blockade, even as it has supported other hard sanctions on Russia and even provided Ukraine arms. But German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said Sunday that the EU should at least discuss pulling the plug on Russian gas imports, one of Europe's last major financial lifeline for Moscow.

  • The supply of Turkish Bayraktar UAVs to Ukraine is painfully perceived by the Russian society, Russian Ambassador to Turkey Alexey Yerkhov told Aydınlık newspaper of Turkey.

“The ‘business is business’ explanations are not understood among the Russian society, as your drones kill our soldiers; the Bayraktars are bought for that very purpose,” he noted.

  • The 2022 Grammy nominations were announced back in November with the expectation that winners would be revealed on Jan. 31—but after the ceremony was delayed due to COVID-19, Music’s Biggest Night finally arrived on Sunday, Billboard reported.

Jon Batiste led all 2022 nominees with 11 nods, while both Olivia Rodrigo and Finneas went into the show with nominations in all the Big Four categories: record, album and song of the year, along with best new artist. But who emerged the night’s biggest winner? Well, both Silk Sonic and Foo Fighters swept all their respective categories, and Doja Cat and SZA teamed up for a surprise win in a Big Four category.

Meanwhile, the President of Ukraine brought a touching moment to the 64th annual Grammy Awards Sunday, CNN reported.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy offered a video speech that began "The war. What's more opposite than music."

Zelenskyy has been outspoken in gathering international support for his country since it was invaded by Russian military forces in February.

He tied that to the music industry's biggest night by saying, "The war doesn't let us choose who survives and who stays in eternal silence."