Armenian minister notes importance of Russia’s role in Caucasus

Arminfo
6 Jul 04

YEREVAN

The mechanism of preserving stability in the South Caucasus will be
more effective if it includes the direct neighbours of the region and
the world’s power centres involved in its development, according to
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan, the press service of the
Armenian Foreign Ministry has told Arminfo news agency.

He said that in this context, Russia’s involvement in the regional
processes needs to be seen in two spheres. On the one hand, as a
direct neighbour of the South Caucasus, Russia, just like Iran and
Turkey, acts as a regional power and protects its interests in the
region. On the other hand, like the Council of Europe and the USA,
Russia views the South Caucasus in a wider geopolitical context and is
interested in its further development.

The Armenian foreign minister noted that one of the main factors in
the development of Armenian-Russian interstate cooperation is the
historical and cultural relationship that has taken shape between the
two peoples for centuries. The ample opportunities of cooperation in
the cultural, scientific and educational spheres are due to the unity
of their development in the Soviet period.

The Armenian foreign minister said that the driving force of this are
Russian and Armenian political organizations, intellectual circles,
creative associations, Armenian communities of Russia and Russian
communities of Armenia. Their contribution to the development of
Armenian-Russian relations will grow in parallel with the further
establishment of a civil society in the two countries, Vardan Oskanyan
said.