Lavrov: Russia and Armenia determined to strengthen strategic partnership
YEREVAN, May 6. /ARKA/. Russia and Armenia are determined to strengthen their allied relations and the strategic partnership, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday in Yerevan.
"We consider our relations to be an important factor of peace and stability in the South Caucasus, a guarantee of the successful socio-economic development of our states," Lavrov said at a joint press conference with Armenian acting Foreign Minister Ara Ayvazyan.
Lavrov said that he has invited Ayvazyan to pay another visit to the Russian Federation in order to continue close contacts on foreign policy and other issues.
According to him, today during a detailed meeting with the acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan they discussed a wide range of issues of mutual interest.
“We are time-tested allies, strategic partners. During the talks, we stated that a political dialogue at the highest level is actively developing between us, our leaders only this year had two full-scale face-to-face meetings, eight telephone conversations, and the heads of government met twice, interaction has been established through ministries and departments as well," he said.
Lavrov noted that significant dates for Armenia and Russia are approaching - next year will mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations and the 25th anniversary of the basic agreement on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance.
“We agreed to work out a program of anniversary events that should emphasize the strategic allied nature of our relations and I hope they will be positively received by our citizens,” he said.
The Russian Foreign Minister also stressed the importance of cooperation in the military-technical field. "The 102nd Russian military base in Armenia, the Russian-Armenian joint group of forces and the border department of the Russian Federal Security Service in Armenia serve to maintain security in the South Caucasus," Lavrov said.
According to him, Moscow highly appreciates the quality of interaction with Armenia within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union and the Collective Security Treaty Organization. He said an agreement was reached also to closely coordinate actions in international organizations such as the UN, OSCE, Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Council of Europe, BSEC and others. --0--