Armenian News - NEWS-am presents the daily digest of related top news as of 07.04.22:

  • The trilateral meeting between Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia, President Charles Michel of the European Council, and President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan took place Wednesday evening in Brussels.

Nikol Pashinyan reflected on the situation and the humanitarian issues in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) caused by the recent actions of the Azerbaijani military units.

Based on the results of the meeting, an agreement was reached to set up a bilateral commission on border delimitation between Armenia and Azerbaijan until the end of April envisaged in the agreement reached in Sochi on November 26, 2021, which will be authorized to deal with security and stability issues along the border.

Also, the Prime Minister of Armenia and the President of Azerbaijan instructed their foreign ministers to start preparations for peace talks between the two countries.

The Armenian PM also said that there was a discussion on the deterioration of the security environment in Artsakh, in particular, the latest events in Parukh village.

"But those discussions did not lead to a joint assessment of the situation.

"I have publicized our position on this issue. Accordingly, we expect that the Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh will take measures to ensure the withdrawal of Azerbaijani units from their area of responsibility," Pashinyan said.

He added that Russia and EU have expressed readiness to assist the delimitation and demarcation works.

“Our position is that there is a de jure border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and that is the borderline existing in the Soviet times,” the PM added.

  • One of the important aspects of the Brussels meeting was the agreement to set up a joint commission on border issues by the end of April. This is an unconditional step forward on the issue of delimitation and demarcation of borders, which in turn will significantly reduce tension on the border between the two countries.

And although the European Council chief Charles Michel said a ‘lot of progress’ was made during the Brussels meeting, in his final statement, it was told nothing about such a concept as "Nagorno-Karabakh.”

The statement didn’t refer to the OSCE Minsk Group as well.

Thus, some political experts are convinced that the EU claims to be the main mediator between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

For example, the Armenian political scientist Stepan Danielyan noted that “while Russia is busy with Ukrainian affairs, it is beneficial for Azerbaijan to bring the conflict settlement process outside the geopolitical field of Russia.”

By the way, in his statement, Charles Michel also “stressed the need for the full and speedy resolution of all outstanding humanitarian issues, including the release of remaining detainees and comprehensively addressing the issue of missing persons.”

But the reference on the demand for the release of the detainees has mysteriously disappeared in the respective statement released by the Azerbaijani foreign ministry.

  • Russia’s FM said that Kyiv has presented Moscow with a draft peace deal that contains “unacceptable” elements.

Sergey Lavrov accused Ukraine of drawing out and undermining peace talks but said Russia would nonetheless continue talks and press to secure its own requirements, Interfax reported.

In the meantime, Ukraine’s state security service (SBU) says it is compiling a list of Russian troops suspected of carrying out alleged war crimes in the Kyiv region, including in the town of Bucha.

And the deputy chief of staff of Ukraine’s ground forces has said Russia is likely to renew its attack on Kyiv if its forces succeed in taking full control of the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

  • Mariupol’s mayor says more than 100,000 people still need to be evacuated from the besieged southeastern port city in Ukraine.

“A full-scale evacuation is needed,” Vadym Boychenko said, adding those still trapped in Mariupol were “praying for rescue”.

He described the situation in the city as a humanitarian catastrophe.

  • In the first quarter of this year, Ukraine imported almost 30 times more military equipment from Turkey than a year earlier, Reuters reports.

During this period, Turkey exported $59.1 million worth of such products to Ukraine, compared with $1.9 million in the first quarter of 2021, according to data released by the Turkish Exporters Assembly.

In recent years, Ukraine has purchased more than 20 Bayraktar TB2 combat drones from the Turkish company Baykar and ordered 16 more drones on January 27. This batch was delivered in early March.

According to the industry association, Ankara's total defense exports grew by 48.6% in the first quarter compared to last year.

In 2021, Turkey exported $3.224 billion worth of defense products, which is 41.5 percent more than in 2020

  • A new omicron subvariant has been detected in the UK.

The XE variant has so far been detected in 637 patients nationwide, according to the latest statistics from the UK Health Security Agency.

They said there is currently not enough evidence to draw conclusions on its transmissibility or severity.

XE contains a mix of the previously highly infectious omicron BA.1 strain, which emerged in late 2021, and the newer “stealth” BA.2 variant.

Health authorities have said they are continuing to monitor the situation.

  • After Maléna’s sensational victory, the 20th Junior Eurovision Song Contest will take place at the Karen Demirchyan Sports and Concerts Complex in Yerevan at the end of the year, the European Broadcasting Union and the Public Television of Armenia reported.

“It is an honour to host the 20th edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in Yerevan – one of the most ancient and iconic cities in the world.

“We will spare no effort to make sure that we create magic for the young participants and viewers, and we look forward to welcoming you all to Yerevan later this year,” Hovhannes Movsisyan, CEO of Armenian Public Television said.