ARMENIA SET FOR ACTIVE, SERIOUS COOPERATION WITH RUSSIA — PRESIDENT SARGSYAN

ITAR-TASS, Russia
June 23 2014

Russia
June 23, 19:26 UTC+4 YEREVAN

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov extended greeting from Putin
to Sargsyan and briefed the president on his meeting earlier in the
day with Armenian counterpart Eduard Nalbandyan

YEREVAN, June 23. /ITAR-TASS/. Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said
at a meeting with visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
on Monday that Armenia was set for an active and serious cooperation
with Russia.

“Armenia is set for an active and serious cooperation with Russia since
this is the only approach that corresponds with historic traditions
of the both nations and certainly with developed relations of allied
and strategic nature,” Sargsyan said.

The president said he was positive that “the current visit of the
Russian foreign minister will be fruitful and turn into an important
step toward the enhancement of the allied relationship between the
two states.”

According to the president, the agreements reached during the official
visit of President Vladimir Putin to Armenia last year on December 2
and the bilateral meeting between the presidents on May 8 in Moscow
“enriched the bilateral agenda.”

“Undoubtedly, the implementation of these agreements will boost
all spheres of cooperation between Russia and Armenia, ranging from
the coordination in the foreign policy sector to cooperation in the
humanitarian sphere,” Sargsyan said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov extended greeting from Putin
to Sargsyan and briefed the president on his meeting earlier in the
day with Armenian counterpart Eduard Nalbandyan.

He said that among the issues discussed with the Armenian top diplomat
was the issue on Armenia’s joining the Eurasian Economic Union,
which will become operational within the Customs Union of Russia,
Belarus and Kazakhstan from January 1, 2015.

The two ministers also discussed the issue of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict settlement.

Nagorno-Karabakh sought independence from Azerbaijan at the end of
the 1980s, which resulted in a war between Azerbaijan and Armenia that
claimed the lives of 25,000-30,000 people between 1988 and 1994. Since
then, the territory has been controlled by Armenia.

The OSCE Minsk Group, which comprises Russia, France and the United
States, acts as a mediator in the conflict.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress