Armenians to stage protests against Russian FM’s visit

Protests will be held in Armenia against the visit of the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the Armtoday website reported.

"On April 21-22, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will arrive in Armenia to discuss with the Armenian authorities the Kremlin's plan on resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," the protests' organizers said in a statement Apr. 20.

The demonstrators said they will march towards the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Armenia and Russia's Embassy in Yerevan with a claim "to voice demands" to the two countries' foreign ministers.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will be discussed between the Russian and Armenian foreign ministers in Yerevan, Mariya Zakharova, spokeswoman for Russia's Foreign Ministry, told Trend Apr. 19.

Earlier, speaking at a press center in Moscow, she said the work continues to resolve the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and talks are underway for finding compromises.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements.

Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on Apr. 5 at 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) with the consent of the sides, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry earlier said. Ignoring the agreement, the Armenian side again started violating the ceasefire.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

/By Trend/