On December 9, the first joint session of the Armenian-French economic cooperation working group was held in Paris. The Armenian delegation at the event was headed by RA Minister of Foreign Affairs Ararat Mirzoyan, and the French by Jean-Baptiste Lemoine, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. This is reported by the RA MFA. The Armenian delegation also included the Deputy Ministers of the Ministries of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, Economy, Finance, High-tech Industry, Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan's advisor and other officials. In his speech, Minister Mirzoyan thanked Secretary of State Lemoine for his warm hospitality and helping to organize effective discussions, emphasizing that the holding of the joint session is the result of bilateral consistent work lasting about a year and the efforts invested at the level of the leaders of the two countries and the agreements reached. Ararat Mirzoyan emphasized that it is necessary to carry out purposeful work to implement the agreements of the top management of the two countries in the direction of intensive activation of economic relations, which will correspond to the level of privileged relations between Armenia and France. During the discussions, the diversification of the Armenian-French trade and economic relations, the need to enrich the cooperation with new economic programs and the revitalization of mutual investments were emphasized on both sides. The interlocutors also noted the need to intensify contacts between the business circles of France and Armenia, particularly through the organization of mutual visits of delegations and economic events. The current activity of the French Development Agency in Armenia was also emphasized and the implementation of new programs was emphasized.

Lawyer Vahan Hovhannisyan wrote on his Facebook page: "Yesterday, I published that 62 soldiers of Shirak region, fully armed, voluntarily surrendered to 4 to 7 Azerbaijani soldiers without firing a single bullet. After the aforementioned publication, many people called or wrote to me, expressing doubts about the authenticity of the post. In order to dispel those doubts, below I present the testimonies of more than a dozen people who returned from captivity (in fact, they are much more). I leave the grades to you. 1. The victim SS testified that <(...) 62 of us continued to walk towards...,. (…) After sitting there for about 15-20 minutes, we decided to approach the guys ahead of us to understand what was happening. They said that someone from the enemy speaking pure Russian told them not to worry, that everything was fine...so we decided to surrender. I approached and saw that 4-5 people were standing on the road, a few meters in front of the weapons we had left, and the one standing in front of them was telling us in fluent Russian not to be afraid, the order is to put down the weapons and come to them. Walking forward, we saw that there were 3-4 armed Azerbaijanis near the three fires. In the first minutes, there were about 7-8 Azerbaijanis there>. 2. Victim R. K testified that <(...) with the whole team, 62 people, ,..., left those positions,...,...,. We all handed over the weapons and ammunition that we had one by one, after which the Azerbaijanis tied our hands and told us that we should go with them wherever they are taking us, so that they will take us to the Russians who are not far away, and whoever tries to oppose them will be killed on the spot. There were about 7 Azerbaijani military personnel and one commander in that place. 3. Victim M. A testified that <13.12.2020 around 4:00 p.m., our crew of 62 people walked in the direction of..., and Azerbaijani soldiers were standing there. There were 3-4 Azerbaijani servicemen, they told us that we should hand over our weapons. Two tents could be seen in the darkness about 60-70 meters from the fires. In the first minutes there were 7-8 Azerbaijanis there>. 4. Victim Z. M testified that 5. The victim H.M testified that . 6. The victim S.M testified that special forces at the indicated positions. They would have been about 6-7 people to begin with. ,..., and we have surrendered our weapons. >: 7. The victim Y.K testified that squad and Turkish soldiers about 10-12 people>, to whom we surrendered.

Relatives of captured and missing servicemen are protesting in front of the National Assembly. The reason is the part of the NA Speaker Alen Simonyan's conversation, in which the latter, talking about the prisoners, says that they do not exist for him. Arsen Ghukasyan, one of the prisoners' relatives, stated in a conversation with journalists and several deputies of the National Assembly "Armenia" faction that they do not need any position, they are fighting for the return of servicemen. "We need our child, about whom Alen Simonyan said: we have no prisoners. what, butcher, kill, eliminate our children? is that what he says? In fact, he became a "zakazchik". He gives a "zakaz" to Azerbaijan, says: "spoil" these children, did he give my child a gift to the Turk?" he said. One of the prisoners' relatives mentioned that they are trying to scare them, that their boycotts and rebellions are also seen by the enemy. "Let the enemy know that there are "Nzhdehs" among us. I appeal to Turkey and Azerbaijan, if our internal Turk implements a pro-Turkish policy, takes certain steps at your behest, be sure, our whole nation will stand for the return of Artsakh, we, the grieving parents, have dignity and will stand until the end," he said. In a conversation with the relatives of the captives and the missing, Aspram Krpeyan, deputy of the "Armenia" faction, stated that they demanded the authorities to publicly declare that they do not agree with Alen Simonyan's position, otherwise they will consider it their position as well.

The work aimed at ensuring the security of the member countries of the Cooperation of Independent States needs to be brought to a new level against the background of the aggravation of the situation in Afghanistan, the increase of military biological activity by Western countries in the post-Soviet space and other challenges. According to the TASS agency, this is stated in the message of the Russian Foreign Ministry. According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, against the background of international instability and the strengthening of tensions at the external borders of the CIS, the focus of attention of the cooperation member states should always be on "issues of ensuring security in all its manifestations". "The aggravation of the situation in Afghanistan and other challenges dictate the need to bring this work to a new level both in cooperation member countries and by coordinating efforts with the CSTO, SCO and other international associations of Eurasia," Lavrov said in a video message dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the CIS. Lavrov drew attention to the fact that every year "the spectrum of CIS activities expands, new areas of cooperation are formed." Lavrov emphasized that the "unchanged support of the Commonwealth of Nations countries in the fight against glorification of Nazism and falsification of history" is precious for the Russian side.

On December 7, the President of the Republic of Artsakh, Arayik Harutyunyan, visited the city of Martuni and held a working meeting with the participation of district administration officials. This is reported by the staff of the President of Artsakh. The head of state mentioned the main priorities that are on the government's agenda. He emphasized that due to the increase of funds from the state budget of the coming year, the possibilities of solving the existing problems will also increase. Referring to the grievances related to the state administration system's dismissal of employees who did not fulfill their official duties or improperly performed their duties during the war and later reinstated by court order, the president noted that the problem has legal and moral aspects. "Artsakh is a legal country. During these years, one of the greatest achievements of our country is the well-established and independent judicial system, in which case we have no right to take a step back. We must maintain the smooth functioning of all our state institutions by joint efforts as convincing facts of the existence and permanence of our newly independent statehood. Therefore, according to our adopted policy, we will not interfere in any way with the judgments made by the court. We also understand and accept the moral side of the problem, there is a formed public demand, public objective evaluations and perceptions regarding the extent of participation in the defense of the motherland during wartime and the appropriateness of the performance of official duties, narrow communal, often emotional, but also moral, customary norms for the restoration of social justice, strictly argued objective demands, which must be taken into account, and I assure you that the political authorities will try to find other solutions in this direction within the framework of the law," the president said.