Pashinyan assured Lithuanian Armenians: Problems related to the  internal political situation have been resolved

ArmInfo.Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan has arrived in the Republic of Lithuania on an official visit. In the sidelines of the visit, the Prime Minister  met with representatives of the local Armenian community, who  represent the sectors of healthcare, culture and business.

As the press service of the RA PM reports, welcoming the participants  of the meeting, the Prime Minister noted that this is his first visit  to Lithuania and hopes that it will be productive. "The following  should be recorded: following the June 20 elections, we note that the  interest of the EU countries to develop relations with the Republic  of Armenia has grown, though that interest has never been small. In  this regard, Lithuania is trying to be particularly active and  supportive. This is not accidental, because there are traditional  ties with Lithuania, Lithuania knows the Republic of Armenia much  better, there were active contacts between the two countries during  the period of the USSR. We hope that our cooperation will be even  more effective.

We are working with the EU to implement the ? 2.6 billion investment  projects in the coming years, which have several directions:  business, technology, SME development, digitalization, development of  Syunik or the southern regions of Armenia. We have already presented  our ideas about the program to the EU partners and we hope to carry  out substantive work towards their implementation. Those programs  must be implemented with the co-funding of the state budget of  Armenia; the launch of those programs is included in the next year's  budget", Nikol Pashinyan said.

Nikol Pashinyan referred to the situation around Armenia, adding that  the post-war period was very difficult. "The problems related to the  domestic political situation were solved, but the problems of the  external environment remain tense. It was an interesting trial of  overcoming domestic tensions through elections, which served as a  tool to resolve the problems, while in the past the elections mainly  became the starting point of domestic political tension. In this  regard, I am pleased to note that the atmosphere of public unrest  that we had from November to June has been resolved'', the PM said.

According to Nikol Pashinyan, the problems related to the external  environment are quite complicated, the environment around Armenia  remains tense. "Despite all this, we have adopted the policy of  opening an era of peaceful development for our region. We understand  that peace does not depend only on the Republic of Armenia. At the  same time, we will continue this path'', the Head of the Government  said, adding that every day new developments take place, aimed at  proving the opposite, but Armenia must try to go forward in this  direction.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan emphasized, "The protection of  Armenia's sovereignty, the rights of the Armenians of Nagorno  Karabakh, including the right to self-determination, are among our  priorities, but we must know that we are walking in a minefield,  where we must be extremely cautious and vigilant. In fact, it has  always been a minefield, but it's another thing that the density of  the mines increases gradually, which we witnessed last year in  autumn. Unfortunately, the war had a difficult, even catastrophic  course for us, but Armenia, the Armenian people, the people of  Artsakh show an exceptional resistance, and that's very important. We  need concentration of efforts to solve the problems set before us,  and I define its culmination as a necessity and imperative to open a  peaceful era. On this path, it's important to analyze the previous  period and make correct conclusions".

The Prime Minister noted that the election campaign contained such a  component. There have been a lot of talks about what happened, but  there are nuances that have not been talked about. The Head of the  Government highlighted the analysis of the past thirty years,  expressing hope that, as a result, it will be possible to open a new  page for the history of Armenia, which will be much more positive.

Afterwards, Nikol Pashinyan answered the questions of those present,  in the framework of which he referred to the creation of new jobs in  Armenia, the priorities of the Government, the settlement of the  Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the relations with Iran.

The Prime Minister noted that next year the Government plans to  implement capital programs of unprecedented scale worth 350 billion  drams, which in turn will create new jobs. The construction of the  North-South highway will continue in full swing, several hundred  schools and kindergartens will be built or renovated in the country  in the next five years, and the works aimed at the development of  tourism will continue. "Our task is to create the necessary  conditions for people to improve their own well-being with their  creative abilities," the Prime Minister said.

Nikol Pashinyan reminded that for the first time in the last two  decades the Republic of Armenia has a stake in Zangezur Copper and  Molybdenum Combine, the largest mining company. "We hope that the  share of the state will increase over time. This is not just a sale  or purchase of shares, but a large investment project that will be  implemented by a private company with the support of the Government.  Today, when we examine the structure of Armenia's exports, we will  see that a huge part of it is just a concentrate, which is mainly  exported to the European Union, where copper is smelted. We want a  copper smelter to be created in Armenia, which means creation of  thousands of jobs", the Prime Minister said, adding that as a result,  copper will be produced in Armenia. "According to various estimates,  up to 5,000 jobs will be created in the coming years within the  framework of this investment program. This issue is in the center of  our daily attention", Nikol Pashinyan stressed.  According to the  Prime Minister, the Government searches partners who will create new  jobs and finds them.

Answering the question about the relations with Iran, the Head of the  Government said, "We have warm relations with Iran. President Raisi  assumed the office in August 2021, and I also assumed my officie in  August, following the elections, and we have already met twice. This  is a fact showing how much we value our relations. It is not  something new that there are certain circles that manage to publish  materials in the Iranian press from time to time that Armenia is  involved in some conspiracies against Iran. I am confident that our  Iranian partners know that the Republic of Armenia has never been and  will never be involved in any conspiracy against Iran, because we  extremely value those relations and we will never forget that Iran  was the "path of life" for Armenia in the early 90s. This is such a  firm ground for our relations that rules out any involvement of  Armenia in any anti-Iran conspiracy.

It's another thing that the economic relations between the two  countries are hampered by economic sanctions. Not only Armenia, but  many other countries in that world have no opportunity to bypass this  reality. Armenia will never be involved in any conspiracy against  Iran and that's so obvious that there is no need to even talk about  that. Just the opposite, we have major projects with Iran. During our  discussions with Mr. Raisi we suggested that they should be  accelerated, particularly, the 3rd high-voltage power transmission  line is under construction, which is constructed by an Iranian  company, and we ask them to do it as soon as possible. We hope to  prolong "gas for electriciy'' contract in the future. During the  meetings I also suggested that we should return to the issue of the  construction of Meghri reservoir and HPP, which I think is very  important not only in terms of energy, but also in terms of joint  management of water resources'', Nikol Pashinyan said.

The PM emphasized that in the recent period a long-lasting problem  related to Iran has been resolved, which was about the emissions of  Agarak copper-molybdenum combine into Aras river. "The issue was  constantly raised, and I am glad to note that it has been resolved,  because the plant has switched to a closed cycle and does not emit  emissions. "GeoProMining", in the person of which we have a partner,  responded to the Government's calls, which allowed us to deepen  relations with them'', the Head of the Government said.  Answering  the question of one of those present, Prime Minister Pashinyan  reaffirmed his readiness to meet with Azerbaijani president Ilham  Aliyev, touched upon the issue of returning the hostages and  providing maps of minefields.

"Look, the President of Azerbaijan announced that he is ready to meet  with me. Let me say that I had said back in July that we are ready to  meet on both high and highest levels, which means we are ready to  meet on the foreign ministerial and prime minister-president levels.  In my recent speech at the UN General Assembly I said that the  Nagorno Karabakh issue awaits its resolution and I can say that for  several times already we have welcomed the statements by the OSCE  Minsk Group Co-chairs where for several times they've noted the need  for resolving the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and restoring the peace  process for this goal," Nikol Pashinyan said.

In this context the Prime Minister noted that just like before, he is  now also announcing that he is ready to meet with the president of  Azerbaijan. "To your specifically mentioned question I can give the  following answer: I am ready to take with me to the presumed upcoming  meeting the maps which are talked about, and these maps are the ones  which do not separate the militaries of Armenia and Azerbaijan from  one another, meaning they don't have a military practical security  significance, they rather have only humanitarian significance because  they are located behind Azerbaijani military lines.

I am ready to take with me to the meeting all maps we have and I call  on the Azerbaijani president to bring with him all captives. Look,  the president of Azerbaijan is complaining that the quality of the  maps which we've transferred in the past is poor. Look, let's make  two records: first, we gave the maps which we had, meaning it's not  like we've kept the good quality maps in the drawer and gave them the  bad ones. I do not rule out and I know that there is an issue with  the quality of maps, why? Because the quality of the map depends on  the quality of the cartographer, their professional skills, we have  what they drew. And here we are honest, open, and we don't have  intentions to deceive anyone, because this isn't only about  Azerbaijan, but also our mediator partners, who are our friendly  countries, our colleagues. It wouldn't be honorable to try and do  something in another way in that situation.

We gave the maps we had, we don't have other ones, I mean in terms of  the terrain which we've already transferred. This is a fact, this  must be noted as reality. As refers to trust, it is clear that  Azerbaijan doesn't trust us in this situation, we don't trust  Azerbaijan and the whole issue is for us to try and move forward with  small steps in a way to develop some kind of trust. This trust is  important so that we are able to solve also humanitarian issues  swiftly, and return our captive brothers to their families as soon as  possible," Prime Minister Pashinyan said.

During the meeting, the Prime Minister also touched upon the  strengthening of Armenia-Diaspora ties, separate directions of the  Armenian Government's activities and other issues.

An official dinner was given in honor of Prime Minister Nikol  Pashinyan on behalf of the Prime Minister of the Republic of  Lithuania Ingrida Simonyte.