Armenian News - NEWS-am presents the daily digest of related top news as of 08.04.22:

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he does not know how the future of the three OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs will turn out.

During a briefing with his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan in Moscow, Lavrov said the reason for this uncertainty was the positions of the US and France.

According to him, Russophobia fuels this as their French-American partners are trying to cut off everything connected with Russia.

"It is their right, if they are ready to sacrifice the interests of Karabakh and the whole South Caucasus, if they are ready to sacrifice the interests of the Armenian side in this case, then it is their choice," the FM said.

"We are committed to the settlement of the Karabakh conflict, to the fulfillment of all the agreements reached at the tripartite level between the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia,” Lavrov added.

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Armenian FM, in turn, noted that the current geopolitical situation in the world has significantly complicated the work of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs.

“Although Azerbaijani colleagues said the co-chairmanship of the Minsk Group have nothing else to do, since “there is no more Nagorno-Karabakh conflict”, the international community continues to see the settlement of the Karabakh conflict within the Minsk Group co-chairmanship mandage, which is very encouraging,” the FM also noted.

Russian and Armenian FMs also discussed the recent meeting between Armenian and Azerbaijan leaders.

As Lavrov noted, Russia is ready to assist in the creation of conditions for the signing of a peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

He noted the continuation of the work aimed at the solution of humanitarian problems, and the resumption of the meetings of the working group co-chaired by the deputy prime ministers of Armenia, Russia, and Azerbaijan.

Lavrov also said that the launch of the "3+3" regional consulting platform—which includes the three countries of the South Caucasus plus Russia, Iran, and Turkey—was noted during their meeting with Mirzoyan.

The sides also touched upon the invasion of the Azerbaijani forces into Parukh, Nagorno-Karabakh on March 24.

According to Lavrov, the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Karabakh is investigating the circumstances of the March 24 incident.

“And we are convinced that our Armenian friends fully trust the Russian peacekeeping contingent,” Lavrov noted.

Mizroyan, in turn, noted that Armenia continues to believe that the Russian peacekeeping contingent will be able to restore the status quo and restore the situation as it was on March 23.

He added that a Russian peacekeeping contingent was deployed in Karabakh to ensure the status quo on the situation of November 9, 2020.

The Presidents of Azerbaijan and Turkey, Ilham Aliyev and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, had phone talks on Thursday, during which the sides discussed bilateral cooperation and the process of normalization of Azerbaijani-Armenian relations, Azerbaijani media reported.

The sides discussed the trilateral meeting between the European Union, Azerbaijan and Armenia held in Brussels on April 6 at the initiative and with the participation of the President of the European Council Charles Michel.

The head of state emphasized the decisions to establish a working group between Azerbaijan and Armenia to prepare a peace agreement with basic principles presented by Azerbaijan at its core.

And President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed satisfaction with the results achieved.

Another shootout took place on the border between Azerbaijan and Iran on Thursday.

The fire was aimed at a group of people trying to cross the border, Azerbaijani media reported.

One of these border trespassers was killed, the other was arrested, and another fled the scene while showing armed resistance.

An automatic rifle, more than 24 kilograms of drugs, and 300 methadone pills—with 40 psychotropic substances—were confiscated from the border trespasser who was killed.

The arrested border trespasser is Iranian citizen Piran Behzat Mohammad.

Iran has been informed about this incident.