RUSSIAN PRESIDENT HOSTS ARMENIAN COUNTERPART
Xinhua, China
June 24 2008
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday hailed relations with
Armenia and pledged to further bilateral ties during talks with his
visiting counterpart of the Caucasus state.
Relations between Moscow and Yerevan are those "of partners andallies,"
Medvedev told Armenian President Serzh Sargsian who is in Moscow for
a three-day visit, Itar-Tass news agency reported.
Medvedev suggested to talk about "the broadest spectrum of questions"
during the meeting and hopes that it "will be productive and will
be commensurate with the level of partnership and allied relations
between the Russian Federation and Armenia."
Sargsian expressed confidence that bilateral ties will develop
along the road of mutual understanding and strategic partnership in
accordance with bilateral treaties, Itar-Tass said.
Russia and Armenia called for an early solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict and pledged to take coordinate steps to ensure security in
the South Caucasus, said a joint statement issued after the leader’s
talks in the Kremlin.
Armed conflict broke out in the early 1990s between Azerbaijan and
Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region’s status after it declared
independence, which was not recognized by the international community.
Nagorno-Karabakh, a region in northwest Azerbaijan, was populated
mostly by ethnic Armenians.
A Russian-brokered ceasefire halted the fighting in 1994, but the
dispute remains unresolved.
The presidents also spoke highly of cooperation in such sectors as
oil and gas, transport and communications, mining and processing
industries, as well as in the innovation sphere, Interfax reported.
The visit is expected to boost trade and economic relations, as
bilateral trade has surpassed 800 million U.S. dollars last year,
Russian officials said.
Armenia, with a population of three million, recorded 13-percent
economic growth in 2007 and foreign trade reached 3.8 billion
U.S. dollars, according to official statistics.