Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan resigns

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan resigned on Sunday. This has formalised a parliamentary vote to be held in June 20. This will be an effort to defuse a protracted political crisis. Pashinyan had faced strong calls to stand down since signing a Russian-brokered peace agreement with Azerbaijan after Armenia's defeat. The peace agreement had ended the war over disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

"I am resigning from my post as prime minister today" to hold the snap vote on June 20, he said in an announcement broadcast on his Facebook page.

As required by Armenian law, all members of Pashinyan's cabinet handed in the own resignations after his announcement.

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Pashinyan said he would continue to fulfil his duties as head of the interim government.

Armenia's humiliating defeat at the hands of Azerbaijan's technologically superior army spurred mass protests in the country.

The tiny Caucasus nation's military, equipped with ageing Soviet-era hardware, struggled to hold ground it had controlled for three decades when clashes broke out against Azerbaijan's better-equipped army in Nagorno-Karabakh in September.

After six weeks of fighting that claimed around 6,000 lives, the peace accord forced Armenia to cede swathes of territory to Azerbaijan.

Pashinyan has insisted he handled the war correctly, saying he had no choice but to agree or see his country's forces suffer even bigger losses and that snap polls were the best way to end the post-war political stalemate.

The 45-year-old former newspaper editor came to power spearheading peaceful protests in 2018 and initially brought a wave of optimism to Armenia.

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