Armenia's foreign affairs minister resigns

Armenian Foreign Affairs Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan announced on Facebook today his resignation.

Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan had held the position since May 2018 [File: AFP]

The statement comes as pressure mounts for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to step down for what protestors are calling treasonous actions. This is over the prime minister's decision to sign last week's Russian-brokered ceasefire with Azerbaijan.

Both Mnatsakanyan and Prime Minister Nikol say the ceasefire was essential to end the bloodshed both Azerbaijan and Armenia were engaged in for the past 6 weeks.

Armenia went into the battle with fewer troops and inferior equipment and paid the price by losing up to 2,317 of its soldiers.

But for many Armenians, the ceasefire felt more like a surrender by their government. The Christian majority nation gained nothing from the agreement but instead gave up large portions of Nagorno-Karabakh, the premise of the dispute, and the autonomous region of Naxcivan, which was never even part of the original dispute.

The situation in Armenia has gotten so volatile that a group of former officials were arrested on Saturday for planning to assassinate the prime minister.

By: Niza Nondo