Armenian News - NEWS.am presents the daily digest of Armenia-related top news as of 18.05.21:
Armenian authorities noted on Saturday that following talks, Azerbaijani troops have agreed to retreat from the Armenian state border.
However, as of Tuesday morning, no changes were registered in the situation - ever since the provocations carried out by the Azerbaijani armed forces on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border on May 12 and 13.
The negotiations on the full resolution of this situation are expected to continue Wednesday, the defense ministry noted.
According to Deputy Mayor of Goris Menua Hovsepyan, after talks, the Azerbaijani troops had to stay in the territory of Sev Lake either way and simply had to move a little back, but they didn’t.
- US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan spoke Monday with Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, the White House reported.
Sullivan expressed concern over recent tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan and emphasized that military movements near un-demarcated borders are irresponsible and provocative.
He welcomed the ongoing communication between the two sides and both leaders’ commitment to resolving this issue peacefully.
- PACE rapporteur is scheduled to visit Armenia.
Paul Gavan (Ireland, UEL) will visit Armenia on behalf of the Committee on Migration, Refugees, and Population from Wednesday to Saturday.
He intends to gather information for his report on the humanitarian consequences of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
He will hold meetings with MPs and representatives of different ministries dealing with the humanitarian consequences of the conflict.
The visit will also allow him to understand better the role and contribution of international organizations working on this issue in Armenia, including the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the United Nations agencies, in particular the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
- UN World Food Programme will provide cash assistance to displaced people in Armenia.
In partnership with the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, the UN World Food Programme (WFP), is launching a cash assistance program for displaced people from Nagorno-Karabakh [(Artsakh)] to meet their food needs across Armenia till the end of June.
The cash assistance will help displaced people buy a wide range of diverse food items to balance their diet.
- As of Tuesday morning, 212 new cases of the coronavirus were confirmed in Armenia, and the total number of these cases has reached 221,139 in the country.
Also, 13 more deaths from COVID-19 were registered, making the respective total 4,346 cases.
The number of people who have recovered over the past one day is 323, the total respective number so far is 209,222.
Meanwhile, the health ministry reported that COVID-19 cases have decreased by 80 percent since vaccination.
"After vaccination — five weeks after the first dose of the Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca vaccines —, the cases of the COVID-19 disease have dropped by 80 percent," the ministry noted.
After vaccination — 35 days after receiving the first dose —, an 80-percent reduction in infection, 90-percent — in hospitalization, and 95-percent — in mortality indicators has been recorded.