Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan gave a large press conference during which he touched upon many internal and foreign policy matters.

One of the main issues Pashinyan discussed was the settlement of Karabakh conflict. In this regard he said his proposal to involve Karabakh is not a proposal to change the format, but rather a proposal to restore the format.

“This is an agreed format recognized at international level. That is, those who speak about a change in the format are badly informed about it,” he said and citied documents where Karabakh is mentioned as a party to negotiations.

Touching upon relations with the European Union, Pashinyan said Armenia is ready to discuss its financial participation in implementation of 13 projects proposed to the EU. The projects refer to infrastructure development, educational reforms, tax and justice reforms.

Speaking about Iran, he said the construction of a new gas pipeline is not on the agenda of the Armenian-Iranian relations now.  The prime minister informed that prior to his visit to Iran he held phone talks with the Georgian prime minister, and presidents of Russia and Turkmenistan, and briefed them on a range of issues that he intends to discuss in Iran.

According to PM, all existing opportunities for cooperation with both the countries listed, as well as with the EU and the US should be considered.

Reiterating the idea of launching an economic revolution,  Pashinyan said at this moment, 89 investment projects—with $2.7bn investment volumes—are being discussed with the government. Fourty-two of these projects—and totaling $774 million—are at various phases of implementation.

Parliament of the Lazio Region of Italy on Monday unanimously adopted a resolution recognizing the historical reality of Armenian Genocide.

The resolution was submitted to the Lazio Region parliament by its member Sergio Pirozzi who, in his related letter addressed to the Armenian community, noted that he wants for this step to become a commitment to truth and solidarity, and a sincere expression for the benefit of a nation whose members have fallen victims to deportations and enormous massacres.

The parliament the Lazio Region has become the 136th Italian regional legislature to adopt a resolution recognizing Armenian Genocide.

The foreign ministers of Armenia and Russia, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and Sergey Lavrov, had phone talks, Russian Foreign Ministry’s press service reported.

According to the source, the conversation took place on Monday at the initiative of the Armenian side.

During the conversation, topical issues of Russian-Armenian bilateral cooperation were discussed.