Armenian, Russian PMs meet in Moscow, talk allied cooperation

PanARMENIAN.Net - At Russian premier Dmitry Medvedev’s invitation, Armenian Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan is paying a two-day official visit to Moscow. As part of the visit, he has met with Medvedev at Gorki residence of the Russian Government head. First, the two officials held a private meeting, which was followed by an expanded one that included official delegations.

As Medvedev said in his greeting remarks, Russia has special allied relations with Armenia, and there are always issues to discuss.

"It is important that a number of documents aimed at developing our cooperation have been prepared. I hope they may help build closer economic ties," Medvedev said.

"We will discuss the economic agenda. I want to emphasize that bilateral trade turnover has been stable despite the international situation and changes in energy prices. If we look at Russia’s imports and supply of products from Armenia, we registered a 70% growth last year, which, to my mind, is the result of Armenia’s accession to the Eurasian Economic Union and strengthened economic ties. But there are also a number of other issues, including investment and humanitarian ones.”

Karapetyan said, in turn, that the meeting was a good opportunity to discuss topical directions of the Armenian-Russian cooperation.

"We have traditionally been enjoying quite a hectic agenda of bilateral relations. As you noted, our governments have been able to move on amid a complicated international situation throughout recent years. You may know that Russia has impressive capital strength in Armenia’s economy. However, I believe we can explore and outline new directions of cooperation," Karapetyan noted.

"A series of reforms are underway in Armenia aimed at creating a favorable environment for investors. In this respect, we would highly appreciate the involvement of the Russian capital. We have come with a number of new proposals, which will allow us to diversify and expand the vectors of cooperation. I am also confident that we are in for a constructive dialogue.”