PreferredArmenian News - NEWS.am presents the daily digest of top news as of 22.03.22:
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during the first meeting, he is ready to talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin on the temporarily occupied Donetsk and Luhansk regions and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, but doubts that this dialogue will be effective.
Zelenskyy also noted that in the talks between Ukraine and Russia, the compromises will be ultimately decided by an all-Ukrainian referendum - including the issues of security guarantees in the occupied territories of Donbas and Crimea.
He said that in case of meeting Putin "right now," there would be no "calls and historic speeches."
However, the Kremlin, in turn, said that disclosing details of the talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations may damage the process, so it will not share details.
Earlier, Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Friday that it had deployed “Kinzhal” (meaning “Dagger” in Russian) hypersonic aeroballistic missiles to destroy a large underground warehouse of Ukrainian missiles and aviation ammunition in Delyatin, in the western Ukraine.
A hypersonic weapon is classed as any missile that travels at least five times faster than the speed of sound, meaning they can travel about one mile per second.
The US president Joe Biden, in turn, noted that 'it's almost impossible’ to stop such a weapon.
Meanwhile, in its support to Ukraine, the US earlier has informally raised with Turkey the unlikely possibility of sending its Russian-made S-400 missile defense systems to Ukraine to help it fight invading Russian forces
- The Russian foreign ministry has reportedly warned the US ambassador that the Kremlin is on the verge of severing ties between the nations.
The warning to US ambassador John Sullivan on Monday morning.
The foreign ministry said it told Mr Sullivan that “unacceptable statements” by US president Joe Biden about Russian president Vladimir Putin had pushed relations between the two countries to a “breaking point”.
Last week, following Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s joint address to Congress, Mr Biden branded Putin a “war criminal” and “murderous dictator”.
He made the remarks at the annual Friends of Ireland Luncheon on Capitol Hill on 17 March, calling Putin “a pure thug who is waging an immoral war against the people of Ukraine”.
The gas issue comes in difficult times as March has been colder than usual this year, and heavy snow also has blocked roads in Karabakh and in the neighboring parts of Armenia, compounding the logistical complications.
The Artsakhgaz company had earlier informed that at around 1am on March 8, the natural gas supply to Artsakh was disrupted due to damage to the natural gas pipeline coming from Armenia. It turned out that the pipeline was damaged in the area controlled by the Azerbaijani armed forces.
The Azerbaijani side was creating obstacles for nine days to repair the pipeline. And finally on March 16, according to the Artsakh Info Center, thanks to negotiations with the assistance of the Armenian government and Russian peacekeepers, the Azerbaijani side began repairing this natural gas pipeline, and the repair was completed on March 19.
On Monday, however, the Artsakh Info Center informed that the natural gas supply to Artsakh was stopped again — and due to the direct intervention of the Azerbaijani side.
The Karabakh MFA in its Tuesday’s statement noted that Azerbaijan's misanthropic steps cannot affect the will, determination of Artsakh people.
“Azerbaijan's behavior is humanitarian terrorism,” the MFA added.
Armenian and Karabakh ombudspersons have also issued a statement which says that “humanitarian crisis in Artsakh is ongoing.”
They said that an instrument of “petty revenge” has been discovered for the Azerbaijani policy of ethnic cleansing of Armenians of Artsakh.
The Armenian MFA, in turn, noted that in the conditions of unprecedented snowfall and unprecedented cold weather, ‘about 120,000 people of Nagorno Karabakh were deprived of vital gas supply.’
Meanwhile, Armenian parliament opposition convened an urgent parliamentary consultation on the humanitarian situation in Karabakh, threats, and urgent measures.
At the end of the sitting, the opposition submitted the draft of the parliament statement condemning the aggressive actions of Azerbaijan. However, the ruling Civil Contract party has blocked the adoption of the statement and abstained from the respective voting.
- The Investigative Committee of Armenia continues its criminal investigation into Azerbaijan's unleashing and conducting a war against Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) in the fall of 2020.
It was found out that the total number of Armenian servicemen and civilians killed in Artsakh and Armenia as a result of this war is 3,822; and as of Monday, the whereabouts of 187 soldiers and 21 civilians are unknown.
Also, 150 captured Armenian servicemen and civilians have so far been handed over to Armenia by Azerbaijan.
The criminal investigation continues.
- President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has thanked US President Joe Biden for congratulating him on the occasion of Nowruz, AzerTac reported.
In the respective letter, Aliyev listed all the achievements of three decades of US-Azerbaijan cooperation, and paid special attention to the energy sector.
Even in this letter, however, Aliyev could not resist the temptation to distort the facts and blackmail. First, Aliyev deliberately singled out one from the whole list of principles. In diplomatic interpretation, the Azerbaijani president reminded the US president of the Azerbaijani oil and natural gas reserves, linking it to Washington's support for Baku's position in the “peace agenda” with Armenia.
Meanwhile, Aliyev also sent a letter to Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Pakistan Day celebrations.
Aliyev thanked Pakistan for its assistance in the aggression against Artsakh and Armenia.
As APA reports, Ilham Aliyev's congratulatory letter to Imran Khan noted that "Azerbaijani people always highly appreciate Pakistan's principled position, its political and moral support to the just cause of our country during the Patriotic War".
Aliyev also invited Pakistani companies in the construction work in the Armenian territories.
- China is producing new billionaires, especially female billionaires, much faster than any other country in the world, Axios reported.
The US, in second place by a wide margin, produces billionaires and companies with far more global influence. China and the US together produced 55% of the world's famous billionaires, according to Hurun's 2022 Global Rich List.
China has more billionaires with 1,133, the US has 716. All three cities with the most billionaires are now in China, with Shenzhen overtaking New York in third place.
But American billionaires are still richer than Chinese ones. They control about 32% of the combined wealth of all the "famous billionaires" in the world, while Chinese billionaires account for about 27% of this wealth.
