Armenian News - NEWS.am presents the digest of top news of protests in Yerevan as of 25.05.22:

• Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan addressed the parliament on Wednesday.

He referred to his meeting with Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev and European Council president Charles Michel in Brussels and the statement of Michel which stirred disturbance in Armenia over the EU’s possible position that Nagorno Karabakh should be part of Azerbaijan.

Pashinyan explained that the wording in Michel’s statement “‘the ethnic Armenian population of Karabakh’ was initiated by Charles Michel. 

“Armenia and Azerbaijan could not come to an agreement on the issue of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict,” he said. “Azerbaijan claims that the conflict is solved, while Armenia believes that the rights, security and future status of Nagorno Karabakh people are still to be addressed.

Pashinyan particularly noted: “Since the parties did not agree on the wording, the head of the European Council decided to express in the statement what, in his opinion, would include as many elements as possible, reflecting the positions of both sides.”

The PM also commented on the situation with the Armenian prisoners of war still being kept by Azerbaijan. He said that quite often there are statements that the issue of the return of prisoners should be put forward as a precondition for further continuation of political processes. However, Pashinyan said “humanitarian issues should not be linked to political ones.”

Pashinyan also added that 39 Armenian prisoners are being held in Azerbaijan to this day. It should be noted that this is the number of only those whose identities have been confirmed. However, Armenian human rights activists have evidence on many more Armenian prisoners of war, who are being kept in Azerbaijan.

During the session, the PM also referred to the opposition’s daily anti-government street protests in Yerevan.

He noted that the purpose of the protest actions is to create inconveniences for the citizens, and it’s a logistic problem now rather than political, since the opposition has failed to fulfill its political goal, which was to make the prime minister resign under public pressure.

• Armenian parliamentary opposition, who has been absent from sessions for about a month now, today blocked the entrances to the presidential residence and the Security Council, where they faced the resistance of numerous policemen.

While there were minor clashes between the police and the protesters, none of the protesters was taken to the police stations today. In the evening, the opposition held another march in Yerevan, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, whom they blame for making unacceptable concessions over Nagorno Karabakh in peace talks with Azerbaijan.

• The second meeting of the commissions of Armenia and Azerbaijan on border delimitation will be held in Moscow next week, Andrei Rudenko, Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia, told reporters.

The first meeting took place Tuesday on the interstate border of Armenia and Azerbaijan. Later the office of Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan confirmed that the second  meeting will be held in Moscow, but said the date is not decided yet.

However, the Armenian, Azerbaijani and Russian deputy prime ministers will meet in Moscow next week to discuss the unblocking of regional communications.

• Moscow sees persistent attempts by the EU to intervene in the process of trilateral agreements reached at the highest level between Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova has stated.

She said they expect that Brussels will help implement those agreements rather than play geopolitical games. Zakharova noted that Russia's strategic goal is to turn the South Caucasus into a zone of stability and prosperity, and to promote the peace process.

• Montenegro President Milo Djukanovic will arrive in Armenia on May 26 for a two-day official visit.

The delegation headed by the President of Montenegro will visit the Armeinan Genocide Memorial Complex to pay tribute to the memory of the victims of Armenian Genocide and meet with Armenian officials, including the Prime Minister.