Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan held a meeting with President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin.
Greeting Nikol Pashinyan, Vladimir Putin said,
“Honorable Nikol Vovaevich,
I want to thank you once again for being here, in Russia today. And as we said after our trilateral meeting, and I think you also agree, the meeting was useful and timely, taking into account everything that is taking place, took place earlier, and is taking place today. That is the reason we are gathering to prevent any tragic incident at the border, between the peoples of the two countries in general, in order to move forward. Of course, all the countries of the region are interested in it - Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan. Let's hope that the agreements reached today will develop in a positive way in the very near future, as soon as possible.
As for our bilateral relations, we have talked about it a lot, I would like to emphasize once again that the relations between Russia and Armenia are of a strategic, allied nature, have deep historical roots. We value it very much and we will do our best to maintain that level of interaction.
As for economy, Russia is Armenia's largest trade and economic partner, the largest investor in the Armenian economy. Of course, last year the trade turnover slightly decreased, but this year it is developing at an accelerated pace, and we hope that it will not only reach the level of the pre-pandemic period, but we will go ahead.
As we had agreed, before the trilateral meeting we had a bilateral meeting with the President of Azerbaijan, you knew that. We had agreed to work in that mode. And now, after the trilateral meeting, we have the opportunity to talk bilaterally, to talk and discuss the whole complex of our bilateral relations. You are welcome."
Thanking for the warm reception, Nikol Pashinyan said,
“Honorable Vladimir Vladimirovich,
I would like to thank you once again for the invitation and organization of today's meetings. Of course, our bilateral relations are very important. You have already emphasized that the relations between Armenia and Russia are strategic and allied. We have a rich agenda in all areas. In practice, we cooperate, we have an agenda within the CSTO, CIS, the Eurasian Economic Union.
But it must be admitted that in all our recent meetings and conversations, we have mostly discussed the regional agenda, since thy are very interrelated topics. I would like to again reiterate your role in ending the 44-day war and deploying Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh, which is a very important stabilizing and security factor in our region. Today you repeatedly stressed the need for the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and this issue has always been discussed during our bilateral meetings.
But since we already talked about regional issues today, I would like to note that despite economic or other difficulties, some activation of Russian investments in the Republic of Armenia in 2021 is notable. In general, this is a signal to investors that the Republic of Armenia is a very reliable country in the regional context, and this is definitely a very strong message for us.
Unfortunately, the economic difficulties associated with Covid-19 continue, but recently we were pleased to note that activation of trade was recorded within the Eurasian Economic Union. This is also very important. I hope that we will finally be able to reach a solution to the issue of opening economic and transport communications in our region, which will lead to the activation of trade and economic ties within the Eurasian Economic Union and bilateral relations between Armenia and Russia.
Thanks again. ”
The President of the Russian Federation added, “I completely agree with you, those communications, the transport routes, which we talked about today in trilateral format, are extremely important. By the way, they are important for the economies of all the countries in the region, including Russia, as we are interested that the ways that connect us with our strategic partner, with Armenia, be reliable, comprehensive, and most importantly, easily operating all year round. I hope we will enter the final stage of that work. There are some issues that need additional coordination, but during today's meeting it became clear that they are not of uncompromising nature.
As for the purely economic, pragmatic issues, we can say that they are, in fact, agreed. That is why I have no doubt that there will be a noticeable positive shift in the near future. You are absolutely right and I agree with you when you said during the trilateral discussion today that as soon as people see that all this is giving results, a different atmosphere will be formed in the region. There is no doubt here.
I would like to thank you once again for today’s constructive conversation. We still have the opportunity to talk about our bilateral issues. We are in regular contact, we meet quite often, we are in constant contact by phone. Today we have the opportunity to talk in person, so we can take advantage of that opportunity.
Thank you. "
