Lavrov to make official visit to Armenia April 3-4 – Kamynin

ITAR-TASS, Russia
April 2 2007

Lavrov to make official visit to Armenia April 3-4 – Kamynin

02.04.2007, 19.48

MOSCOW, April 2 (Itar-Tass) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
will make an official visit to Armenia on April 3-4, Foreign Ministry
spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said on Monday.

The talks will focus on `the implementation of the agreements reached
by the presidents of Russia and Armenia in January to intensify
mutually advantageous cooperation in the fuel and energy sector and
transport’, Kamynin said.

`Special attention will be riveted to regional problems, discussions
on the joint steps taken by the foreign ministries of both countries
to contribute to normalising the situation in Transcaucasia, settling
conflicts in the region and creating an atmosphere of trust in order
to initiate all Caucasian cooperation,’ the spokesman said.

`We hope to hear our partners’ assessment on the election situation
in Armenia. We expect the parliamentary elections in the country to
be held at a high level and in compliance with the democratic norms,’
Kamynin stressed.

On April, Lavrov will leave for Turkmenistan on a working visit. As
part of the visit the Russian minister will meet Turkmen President
Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov and his counterpart Rashid Meredov. The
sides will discuss the state of and prospects for the development of
economic relations.

`Russia considers it important to take several additional steps in
order to make economic ties more stable and sustainable and use the
existing potential. In Ashgabat the sides will exchange views on
international issues, the situation in the Central Asian region and
the settlement of the Caspian Sea status,’ Kamynin pointed out.