Putin’s official visit to Armenia to be met with protest rallies

PanARMENIAN.Net - Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived on an official visit to Armenia. At Gyumri’s Shirak airport the Russian leader was met by his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan and other officials.

The two countries’ presidents plan to attend a series of Gyumri-hosted events followed by a visit to the 102nd Russian military base.

At Yerevan-hosted bilateral talks, the two countries’ leaders will discuss implementation of agreements reached during Sargsyan’s visit to Russia September 3. The parties will exchange views on current stage and further steps of Armenia’s accession to the Customs Union and common economic zone. A number of documents to promote bilateral ties will be inked.

The results of Putin’s visit will be announced at a news conference.

According to the RFE/RL’s Armenia service, anti-Russian signs were put in some of Yerevan’s streets ahead of Putin’s visit to show discontent over Armenia’s accession to Moscow-led Customs Union.

As Novosti-Armenia reported earlier, a number of parties and civil organizations opposing Armenia’s accession to the CU expressed intention to hold rallies December 2 in the city center.

A monument to Armenian-Russian friendship - Unified Cross - was unveiled December 2 morning with Sargsyan and both countries’ high-ranking officials attending.