Armenia’s Security Council Meeting Discusses Situation in Armenia and Artsakh

YEREVAN — Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan chaired a meeting of Armenia’s Security Council after discussing the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Russia’s visiting Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk on Sunday.

An Armenian government statement said the Security Council meeting focused on “issues related to the situation in Armenia and Artsakh, humanitarian affairs and security environment.” It gave no details.

Artsakh President Arayik Harutyunyan also attended the meeting. According to his office, Harutyunyan, Pashinyan, Armenia’s top

security officials and other members of the council discussed “the security of Karabakh, “protection of the population,” prisoner exchanges with Azerbaijan and the ongoing recovery of the bodies of Armenian soldiers and civilians killed during the recent war in Karabakh.

These issues were also high on the agenda of Pashinyan’s talks with Overchuk held earlier on Sunday.

Pashinyan’s press office said the two men spoke about the “current situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, humanitarian assistance to Artsakh, the exchange of prisoners and the bodies of the dead as well as a wide range of issues on the agenda of Armenian-Russian relations.”

Overchuk was reported to reaffirm Russia’s “support to the friendly Armenian people during this difficult period” and commitment to stepping up Russian-Armenian “strategic cooperation.”

For his part, Pashinyan again praised Moscow’s role in stopping the six-week war and described the deployment of Russian peacekeeping troops in Karabakh as an “important security factor and guarantee.”

In a televised address to the nation aired on New Year’s Eve, Pashinyan announced plans to further deepen Armenia’s relations with Russia. He said that his country needs “new security guarantees” after the war.