Belarus’s Interior Ministry has added RFE/RL’s Belarus Service, known locally as Radio Svaboda, to its registry of extremist organizations, in a continued clampdown on independent media and civil society sparked by an eruption of protests against authoritarian ruler Alexander Lukashenko’s claim he won a presidential election last year that the opposition says was rigged, VOA …

NATO has called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to take advantage of the upcoming vacation to withdraw his armed forces from the Ukrainian border. Russia has the opportunity to ensure a peaceful and relaxing Christmas for everyone, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in an interview with the German News Agency. To do this, the country must …

Collective Security Treaty Organization Secretary General Stanislav Zas, on a working visit in Armenia, paid a visit to the Armenian Genocide Memorial on December 23 accompanied by Deputy Foreign Minister Armen Ghevondyan and Armenia’s Permanent Representative to the CSTO Victor Biyagov. The guests were greeted by the director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute Harutyun Marutyan …

The Ministry of Health is discussing the issue of making coronavirus treatment for unvaccinated citizens paid. Minister of Health Anahit Avanesyan told a briefing today that calculations on treatment costs are under way. “We are now calculating the cost of treating a coronavirus infection per case. The state has taken all measures to ensure the …

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the 2021 Article IV consultation and completed the fourth and fifth reviews of Armenia’s performance under its economic program supported by the SBA. The completion of these reviews will allow the authorities to draw SDR 51.43 million (about US$ 72 million), bringing total disbursements to SDR …

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan received today Collective Security Treaty Organization Secretary General Stansilav Zas, the Prime Minister’s Office reported. It said that Pashinyan welcomed the CSTO Secretary General in Yerevan, noting that his visit is a good opportunity to discuss the current situation in the CSTO region, as well as to summarize the CSTO activities …

President Biden told ABC News in an interview that aired Wednesday he’ll seek re-election in 2024 if he remains in good health, and if his predecessor runs “that’ll increase the prospect” of him running. There’s been speculation that Biden, 79, may only serve one four-year term, due to age or other reasons. “I’m a great respecter of fate,” …

Baku has responded to the statement of Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan that without waiting for the construction of a new railway in Meghri and Mijnavan-Horadiz sections, communication should be opened to Iran via Nakhichevan. Following the meetingof the Armenian-Russian intergovernmental commission held in Yerevan yesterday, Mher Grigoryan told reporters that the working group …

The Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs has sent a letter to Google demanding that Armenian names of Artsakh settlements in Google Maps be replaced by Azerbaijani names, according to Azerbaijani media reports. The head of the Foreign Ministry’s press service, Leyla Abdullayeva, said Azerbaijan will continue to “take measures to eliminate” Armenian names on the …