Armenia and Russia have never been on the opposite sides of the barricades, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said in an article published in Russian on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

“Establishment of diplomatic relations opened a new page in the modern history of centuries-old relations between the brotherly peoples that have passed the test of time,” Minister Nalbandian said.

According to Armenia’s top diplomat, the two nations are tied by a number of deep threads, which form the ground, on which the relations between Armenia and Russia are being built.

“Today the Armenian-Russian allied strategic partnership is seen as an exemplary model of cooperation, one of the most successful and effective ones on post-Soviet space,” he said.

Minister Nalbandian said “Armenia appreciates Russia’s mediating efforts, including in its capacity as Minsk Group Co-Chair, in the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.”

“It was thanks to Russia’s efforts that the agreement on ceasefire was signed between Nagorno Karabakh, Azerbaijan and Armenia on May 12, 1994. This enabled us to step into the political phase of conflict resolution.  Despite Azerbaijan’s continuous efforts to wreck the implementation of the agreement, including the large-scale military actions unleashed last year, Armenia works in cooperation with Russia, the co-chairing countries continues to take efforts towards stabilization of the situation, creation of conditions for furthering the negotiation process with a view of solving the conflict exceptionally in a peaceful way,” Minister Nalbandian said.