Armenian News - NEWS.am presents the daily digest of top news as of 21.03.22:

  • Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan today reflected on the Armenian-Turkish and Armenian-Azerbaijani relations development at the parliament session of the Standing Committee on Foreign Relations.

Noting the importance of talks for signing a comprehensive peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Mirzoyan however added that Issue of determining Nagorno-Karabakh's status remains a matter of principle for Armenian authorities.

The FM added that the negotiation process on Karabakh conflict settlement should be resumed as there are 38 Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan, including 3 civilians.

Meanwhile, as Mirzoyan earlier attended the Antalya Diplomacy Forum, he noted that during his meeting with  Turkish FM Mevlut Cavusoglu, the future course of normalization of Armenia-Turkey relations was highlighted by both sides.

“During the meeting, both sides said they are ready to advance this process without preconditions and, ultimately, to crown it with the establishment of relations and the reopening of borders between the two countries, Mirzoyan added.

Earlier on Monday Mirzoyan had phone talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. Their talk came after Lavrov held phone talks with FM of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov.

Thus, during the phone talks, the Armenian Foreign Minister presented the situation created on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and in Nagorno-Karabakh as a result of provocations and violation of the ceasefire by Azerbaijan.

Mirzoyan also presented to his colleague the position of the Armenian side regarding the start of negotiations on a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan, in this context, the role of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group was given importance.

The FM already said that the principles put ahead by Azerbaijan do not fully reflect the entire agenda of the existing issues. For the Armenian side, it is fundamentally important that the rights and freedoms of the Armenians of Artsakh are clearly guaranteed, and the status of Nagorno-Karabakh is finally clarified.

"Up to 1.5% deviation is possible," the minister said.

He noted that what happened in the global food markets in 2021 can be expected to be due to the coronavirus and, as a result, because of certain rearrangements of value chains around the world.

"What is happening now is a little different, a little bit related to regional uncertainties, to the regularity of our main suppliers," said the finance minister.

  • The situation in Ukraine remains unstable.

The sides are trying to find solutions to the Ukrainian-Russian crisis.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with CNN that he is "ready for negotiations" with Russian President Vladimir Putin, noting that if the negotiations fail, "it would mean World War III."

Zelenskyy also noted that "if Ukraine were a member of NATO, the war would not have started."

Meanwhile, Russian president spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that there is no discussion about the resumption of the ceasefire during the negotiations with Ukraine.

"No, the fact is that the pause of the operation, any pause, is used by the nationalist units to regroup, it is used to continue attacks on the Russian military," the Kremlin spokesman said in response to a related question.

Let’s note that as of midnight local time on Saturday, at least 902 civilians had been killed in Ukraine and another 1,459 had been wounded.

Amid the unstable situation, the international community continues to panush Russia.

The French authorities have frozen the funds of the Bank of Russia worth 22 bln euro, as well as accounts and property of individuals sanctioned by western countries

While, the member states of the European Union (EU) are currently developing the fifth package of sanctions on Russia in connection with the events in Ukraine.

Zakir Hasanov's visit is being held at the invitation of Pakistani General Nadeem Raza, chairman of the  Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee.

A number of meetings are planned. Hasanov will also participate as a guest of honor in the military parade dedicated to Pakistan's National Day.

Also, three more deaths from COVID-19 were registered, making the respective total 8,598 cases.

Meanwhile, there are 31.0% vaccinated people in Armenia, with over 919,000 people fully vaccinated.

“Snap” was written by Rosa Linn, LarzzPrincipato, Courtney Harrell, Allie Crystal, Tamar MardirossianKaprelian. Lyrics byRosa Linn, LarzzPrincipato, Courtney Harrell, Allie Crystal, Tamar Mardirossian Kaprelian, Jeremy Dusoulet.

The music video was directed by Aramayis Hayrapetyan