Russia, Armenia mull opportunities to boost cooperation
By Vitaly Kuchkin

ITAR-TASS News Agency
May 11, 2004 Tuesday

MOSCOW, May 11 — Russia and Armenia consider opportunities to boost
cooperation, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko
said on Tuesday.

Two-way trade increased by almost 35 percent last year. At the present
time, Moscow and Yerevan exchange views regarding the prospects
for implementing the property- against-debt agreement, as well as
interaction in the sphere of energy and investments, Yakovenko said.

The parties attach an important significance to the solution of
transport problems, in particular by resuming the railroad service
between Russia and Armenia through Georgia.

Special attention is paid to the coordination of efforts aimed at
normalizing the situation in the Caucasus, and the opening of the
potential of multi-lateral cooperation, including within the framework
of the Caucasian Four.”

This includes the prevention of new conflicts and the settlement of
old ones such as in Nagrony Karabakh, Yakovenko said.

He said interaction within the frameworks of the Commonwealth of
Independent States (CIS), the Collective Security Treaty Organization
(CSTO), and Eurasian Economic Community where Armenia received the
status of observer, was an important sphere of cooperation between
the two countries.

“Russia and Armenia are resolved to make task-oriented moves in the
fight against terrorism,” the diplomat said, adding that “the political
interaction in the sphere of anti-terrorist fight is strengthened by
effective practical cooperation between secret services.”
From: Baghdasarian