YEREVAN, September 22. /TASS/. Citizens protesting against Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan have gathered in front of the government building in the center of Yerevan, where the Cabinet is holding a meeting.

According to a TASS correspondent, several hundred people have gathered in front of the government building on Republic Square. A meeting of the government with Nikol Pashinyan began there at 10:00 local time (9:00 Moscow time). The demonstrators demand Pashinyan's resignation over the events in Nagorno-Karabakh. Special forces are lined up in several rows at the entrance to the building. People continue to arrive at the rally site.

The situation in the city is calm. Cars are moving freely in the center of the city, although in the morning some demonstrators tried to block the streets. According to the latest data from the Interior Ministry, police have detained 26 people since the morning, including one of the opposition leaders, Andranik Tevanyan.

On September 19, tensions flared up again in Nagorno-Karabakh. Baku announced it was launching what it described as "local anti-terrorist measures" and demanded the withdrawal of Armenian troops from the region. Yerevan, in turn, said there were no Armenian forces in Karabakh, calling what was happening "an act of large-scale aggression." Residents of the Armenian capital took to the streets to protest outside the Armenian government building, blaming the country’s leadership and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan for the situation.

Russia called on the conflicting sides to prevent civilian casualties and return to a diplomatic solution. On September 20, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry announced that an agreement had been reached with the participation of the Russian peacekeeping contingent on the suspension of local anti-terrorist operations in Nagorno-Karabakh as of 12:00 p.m. Moscow time. On September 21, representatives of Baku and the Armenian population of Karabakh met in the Azerbaijani city of Yevlakh "to discuss reintegration issues."