make preferableArmenian News - NEWS.am presents the daily digest of Armenia-related top news as of 26.02.21:
- The situation in Armenia is still tense since Thursday.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces has earlier issued a statement in which the high-ranking military officials demanded the current government's resignation. Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan considered the move as an "attempt at a military coup." He has also submitted his proposal to dismiss Onik Gasparyan from the post of Chief of the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces.
On Friday, the president has not yet signed the proposal but has launched a series of discussions to find a peaceful solution to the situation. Within this framework, Sarkissian held meetings with parliament's speaker Ararat Mirzoyan, as well as parliamentary factions and Armenia opposition representatives.
During the meeting with opposition, all the sides recorded the fact that Armenian interest comes first and that everyone will be guided by the advancement of the state interest. The president will reportedly express his views after the meetings.
Sarkissian also plans a meeting with Onik Gasparyan.
- Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev referred to the recent events in Armenia, calling them the internal affairs of the country.
He expressed hope that these events will not affect the implementation of the trilateral statement signed on November 9 last year on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has also noted that there will be no bilateral contacts with Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan following his provocative statements on Nagorno-Karabakh "although he was the initiator of our contacts."
The Azerbaijani leader also touched upon the issue of POWs' return following the Nagorno-Karabakh [Artsakh] war.
Aliyev said that Baku has returned all Armenian captives and only "terrorists and saboteurs" are still being held.
According to him, Baku has returned the POWs earlier than Armenia.
In the meantime, Armenia deputy PM Tigran Avinyan's office noted that Azerbaijan is trying to make captives’ issue a bargaining chip.
"Armenia has no saboteurs or terrorists anywhere," the office said in a statement.
- Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said events in Armenia do not yet affect the implementation of Nagorno-Karabakh agreements.
He noted that it is important to follow the path of implementing the agreements on Karabakh.
Peskov also commented on the discrepancy in press releases about Russian president Vladimir Putin and Pashinyan talks.
The website of the Armenian government said that President Putin expressed support for legitimate authorities of Armenia, while the Kremlin's message did not contain such a wording.
Peskov, in turn, noted that during the talks Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke in favor of resolving the situation in Armenia within the law.
- A regular meeting of the working group will be held on Saturday in Moscow under the joint chairmanship of the deputy prime ministers of Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Russia.
According to Russian Deputy PM Alexei Overchuk, all parties have confirmed their participation.
- While the world is discussing the internal political crisis in Armenia, Armenia’s top chess player Levon Aronian has issued a statement and confirmed the reports that he is leaving the country.
"After waiting for more than a year for the promises of the current government to be fulfilled, I realized that I had to make a breakthrough decision and leave my native country," he noted adding that all his attempts to stop the destructive decisions being made in the field of Armenian chess have failed.
