Azerbaijan's attacks against Ruben Vardanyan should be considered against Russia - Davit Babayan

Azerbaijan's attacks against Ruben Vardanyan should be considered against Russia. Aliyev's words do not correspond to reality, because one of the most important directions of their state policy is to attack Russia. Of course, they don't say anything at the state level, but they started a big anti-Russian campaign through individual figures and analysts. Artsakh Minister of Foreign Affairs Davit Babayan said this, referring to the statement of the President of Azerbaijan that he is ready to talk with Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh, but not with people like Ruben Vardanyan, he was sent with a very clear agenda.

According to Babayan, there is no secret agenda with the Russian Federation, and it is in favor of regulating the relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, at the same time understanding that the Artsakh issue is difficult to solve now, it should be left to the future, and Azerbaijan is also trying to take advantage of the opportunity. 

Referring to Aliyev's statement that it is unacceptable for Baku to mention the rights and security of the NK people in the peace agreement, Davit Babayan noted that Aliyev can say a lot if RA accepts what they say, then Armenians will cease to exist and there's a need to fundamentally protect local interest interests.

"The Armenian government should do everything to make a reservation in the agreement regarding the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, Artsakh was not and will not be a part of Azerbaijan," said Babayan.

RA Ministry of Defense denies the information of the Azerbaijani side

The Ministry of Defence of Azerbaijan has spread disinformation, claiming that units of the Armenian Armed Forces opened fire toward the Azerbaijani positions located in the Eastern part of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border zone on November 18, at 12:50 a.m.

The President of Azerbaijan continues to threaten the population of Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia and presents groundless territorial claims - RA FM

RA Minister of Foreign Affairs Ararat Mirzoyan gave a speech at the 43rd session of the Francophonie Ministerial Forum. In his speech, he referred to the conflict with Azerbaijan and the latest statements of Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev.

"Tensions still remain today on our border with Azerbaijan, and despite the commitment to not use force or the threat of force, the President of Azerbaijan continues to threaten the people of Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia and make unfounded territorial claims.

In this regard, we welcome the fact that many countries have recognized the violation of Armenia's territorial integrity and demanded the withdrawal of Azerbaijani forces from the sovereign territory of Armenia.

Armenia remains committed to the peaceful settlement of all issues related to the conflict, including ensuring the rights and security of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, and thanks the international partners who are making efforts to achieve this," Mirzoyan stated.

Vladimir Putin is planning to participate in the CSTO summit to be held in Armenia - Peskov

Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the Russian President, said that Vladimir Putin plans to participate in the CSTO summit to be held in Armenia next week.

It should be reminded that on November 23, a session of the CSTO Council will be held in Yerevan under the chairmanship of the RA Prime Minister.

It is noted that the members of the Council will discuss current issues related to international and regional security and the main results of CSTO activities after the previous session.

"One of the most important issues will be the improvement of the CSTO crisis response system and the discussion of joint measures to provide assistance to the Republic of Armenia.

Nikol Pashinyan was questioned as a witness 

RA Prime Minister Pashinyan was questioned as a witness by the RA Investigative Committee.

In response to Azatututyun's inquiry, the investigative body informs that the preliminary investigation of the criminal proceedings initiated by a group of high-ranking officials of Armenia during the 44-day war regarding the alleged crime of abusing their official powers continues from May 4, 2022. In the response, it is mentioned that Prime Minister Pashinyan was questioned as a witness within the framework of this proceeding.

The relatives of the victims, who had been holding various protest actions in front of the government building and the Prosecutor General's Office for months before, since April, demanded to interrogate Pashinyan. They urged to interrogate and impeach Prime Minister Pashinyan.

At that time, the former chief prosecutor Artur Davtyan met the relatives of the victims in front of the prosecutor's office building, after which, after studying the application of the relatives, he decided to include them as victims and instructed the head of the Investigative Committee, Argishti Kyaramyan, to interrogate Prime Minister Pashinyan.

The Investigative Committee does not elaborate on exactly when Pashinyan was interrogated, nor does it indicate whether this could be followed by the fulfillment of the other demand of the soldiers' relatives, to indict Pashinyan for war crimes.

It is planned to adopt the declaration of the Collective Security Council during the session.

Other News

• On November 23, a session of the CSTO Council will be held in Yerevan under the chairmanship of the RA Prime Minister.  

• RA Minister of Finance Tigran Khachatryan received the delegation led by France's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Armenia Anne Louyot. Director of the Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Asia Department of the French Development Agency (FDA) headquarters Cyrille Bellier and other representatives of the FDA  also took part in the meeting.

• RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan with his wife Anna Hakobyan left for the Republic of Tunisia this evening on a working visit. On November 18-19, in Djerba, Tunisia, the 18th summit of the International Organization of Francophonie will be held, during which Armenia will transfer the presidency of the summit to Tunisia.  Prime Minister Pashinyan will make a speech at the summit.