Armenia, Azerbaijan Near Peace Deal

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that a peace treaty with Azerbaijan was close to completion but that his country would not accept Baku's demands that it change its constitution.

Pashinyan's comments preceded an outbreak of clashes between police and demonstrators at the latest in a series of protests denouncing his policies, including the handing back of ruined villages to Azerbaijan, and demanding his resignation.

Video footage from Yerevan showed police firing stun grenades at protesters massed around parliament. Protesters later moved on to the government building.

Police officials said 17 officers were injured. The Interior Ministry said 79 civilians were hurt and 98 detained.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has defended police actions taken against demonstrators outside parliament where he was participating in a regular question period that saw him indicate Armenia would withdraw completely from the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).

There are people who have applied for medical help," a spokesperson of the health minister said, without specifying the number of people injured.

Police "justly used" a stun grenade after the leader of the protest, Archbishop Bagrat Galstanian, "directed people to attack the police," said parliament speaker Alen Simonian.

During the question period, Pashinian told parliament that his government will decide later when to leave the CSTO, an alliance of six ex-Soviet states -- Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.

Armenia announced on May 8 that it had stopped making financial contributions to the CSTO. It had previously suspended its participation in joint military drills, high-level meetings, and other activities.

Tensions between Armenia and Russia arose after Armenian authorities accused Russian peacekeepers of failing to stop Azerbaijan’s lightning offensive in September 2023.