Thousands of protesters gathered Thursday in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan over his government’s decision to hand over control of border villages to Armenia’s long-time rival Azerbaijan.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought two wars since the Soviet Union collapsed and Armenia said in April that it would return the villages to Azerbaijan. That decision came after Azerbaijan in September waged a lightning military campaign in Nagorno-Karabakh, a majority ethnic Armenian region inside Azerbaijan. That caused tens of thousands of people to stream into Armenia, sparking demonstrations as protesters called for the prime minister to be ousted.

Protesters led by a senior cleric in Armenia’s church walked a distance of around 100 miles from villages near the border with Azerbaijan to Yerevan where they gathered Thursday in Republic Square.

ARMENIA’S PRIME MINISTER IN RUSSIA FOR TALKS AMID STRAIN IN TIES

Videos shared on social media showed thousands of people waving Armenian flags. A senior Armenian cleric said a prayer and told the protesters he gave Pashinyan one hour to resign, blaming him for the loss of Armenian territory.

Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan told protesters they should “engage in peaceful acts of disobedience,” if Pashinyan did not listen to their demands.

Pashinyan visited Moscow Wednesday and held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin amid spiraling tensions between the estranged allies. The meeting took place a day after Putin began his fifth term at a glittering Kremlin inauguration which the Armenian leader did not attend.

Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov was quoted Thursday by Russian state news agency Tass as saying the two leaders had agreed to the removal of Russian forces from some Armenian regions.

In brief remarks at the start of the talks, Putin said that bilateral trade was growing, but acknowledged “some issues concerning security in the region.”

Pashinyan, who last visited Moscow in December, said that “certain issues have piled up since then.”

Armenia’s ties with Russia, a longtime sponsor and ally, have grown increasingly strained after Azerbaijan waged its military campaign in September to reclaim the Karabakh region, ending three decades of ethnic Armenian separatists’ rule there.

Armenian authorities accused Russian peacekeepers who were deployed to Nagorno-Karabakh after the previous round of hostilities in 2020 of failing to stop Azerbaijan’s onslaught. Moscow, which has a military base in Armenia, has rejected the accusations, arguing that its troops didn’t have a mandate to intervene.

The Kremlin, in turn, has been angered by Pashinyan’s efforts to deepen ties with the West and distance his country from Moscow-dominated security and economic alliances.

While Pashinyan was visiting Moscow, Armenia’s foreign ministry announced that the country will stop paying fees to the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a Russia-dominated security pact. Armenia has previously suspended its participation in the grouping as Pashinyan has sought to bolster ties with the European Union and NATO.

Russia was also vexed by Armenia’s decision to join the International Criminal Court, which last year indicted Putin for alleged war crimes connected to Russia’s actions in Ukraine.

Moscow, busy with the Ukrainian conflict that has dragged into a third year, has publicly voiced concern about Yerevan’s westward shift but sought to downplay the differences.

Kremlin spokesman Peskov conceded Tuesday that “there are certain problems in our bilateral relations,” but added that “there is a political will to continue the dialogue.”

Ukrainian state security said earlier this week that they unearthed an assassination plot including two state guards.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has fired the head of the state guards following allegations that two members were involved in a plot to assassinate the embattled Ukrainian head of state.

Zelenskyy dismissed former leader of the state guards Serhiy Rud on Thursday, after the state security service (SBU) said earlier this week that it had unearthed an assassination plot against Zelenskyy and other important officials. A successor for Rud has yet to be named.

The SBU said that the assassinations were meant to be a “gift” for Russian President Vladimir Putin as he was sworn in for a new term in office on Tuesday.

The SBU said that the two men, both colonels in the state guard, had planned to take Zelenskyy hostage and later kill him.

Other key officials, including SBU head Vasyl Maliuk and Kyrylo Budanov, the military intelligence agency’s head, were also said to be targets of the failed effort.

Moscow has not commented on the allegations by the SBU, which alleged that the two bodyguards had passed on sensitive information to the FSB, Russia’s security service.

It is not the first assassination effort that the Ukrainian leader has faced down, stating last year that at least five Russian plots have been foiled since the war began.

Zelenskyy’s administration has faced growing difficulties in recent months, and has shaken up some key staffing positions as progress in the country’s war against Russia stalls out and officials face accusations of corruption.

In February, Zelenskyy named Oleksandr Syrskyii as the new army chief after dismissing General Valerii Zaluzhny from the position.

NEW YORK (AP) — Allow Brian Kelley to reintroduce himself.

Best known as one-half of the country super-duo Florida Georgia Line, Kelley will release a solo album, “Tennessee Truth,” on Friday. It is a collection of 12 anthemic country songs ripe for a road trip and tailgate in equal measure.

For “Tennessee Truth,” produced by Dan Huff, Kelley says he aimed to “dive into the music I grew up on — obviously the music I love and themes of just country living, rural living, hard work, good times, outdoors, love,” he told The Associated Press from his home in Nashville.

Good songwriting, Kelley says, is a lot like fishing — you need patience. “I wrote probably over 100 songs for this record.”

Eight of the 12 songs on the album were written by Kelley, and he worked with whomever he could on others, trying to get outside his comfort zone. “Every song gets you to the next song,” he says.

“I think it’s a fun record,” he says, adding that the creative process was dependent on these tracks translating live.

Geography still plays a prominent role in the music Kelley makes. Throughout “Tennessee Truth” are beaches in Florida, farms in Nashville, his wife’s family farm in Georgia. Hunting, sitting on the porch drinking sweet tea and eating peanuts, conversations with loved ones — that’s the kind of life he hopes comes across on the album. “Just being free,” he says.

Fans looking for more coastal country from Kelley — like what was found on his pandemic album, “Sunshine State of Mind,” released in 2020 — will want to skip over to “10 O’clock on the Dot.”

“It was a passion project,” he says of “Sunshine State.” “It was supposed to just be its own little thing.”

Kelley says he also made that record with the thought that he would record solo and with Florida Georgia Line. “I made it with a sonic respect to what we were, what we had done and what we had built. So, I didn’t want to tread on anything even close to that, out of respect, you know?”

He says he considers “Tennessee Truth” his true solo debut.

In 2022, Florida Georgia Line embarked on an indefinite hiatus. At that point, the duo of Kelley and Tyler Hubbard had been together more than a decade, and whether you were a fan of their bro country sound or not, their music ( “Cruise,” “Meant to Be,” “Round Here”) set the tone for a generation of country fans. The following year, Hubbard released a self-titled debut solo record.

“I’m thankful that (Brian) had the courage to step into this new space and to make that decision that ultimately kind of pushed me to make the same decision and lead me to where I’m at now,” Hubbard told AP at the time. “I had quite a few people tell me that it couldn’t be done and that I should definitely continue with FGL, and it sort of lit a spark in me, a fire.”

The closing song on “Tennessee Truth” is the feisty “Kiss My Boots,” which features Kelley delivering vinegary lyrics like: “Want the world to know that you did me wrong / I don’t know how you act sweet, after how you did me / Here’s a middle finger to you through a song.” Some fans theorize it is a direct message to Hubbard.

“I’ve read some of that, too,” Kelley says, adding that he understands people might make associations in order to find meaning in the song.

“But at the end of the day,” he says, the song means a lot of different things for his collaborators, “And it really means a lot of different things for me.

“I really put that song out because I wanted people to know that I’m a real human, and I’m not just some face on social media or some somebody that’s had some success,” he adds. “You know, I’ve been through hard times in my life.”

But could there be a reunion on the horizon?

“The old saying is, ‘Tell God your plans and he’ll laugh,’” he says. “So, I have no idea. I really don’t know what the future holds. I know that I’m really focused on what I’m doing now, and I’m really proud of … the work that I put in.”