Armenia wants better ties within CIS – minister

Arminfo
20 Jul 04

YEREVAN

Commenting on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statement on the need
for improving cooperation within the CIS, Armenian Foreign Minister
Vardan Oskanyan has told Armenian Public Television that the CIS
should become a more active and successful organization.

The commonwealth has been in existence for many years now and the need
for improving its activities has always been on the agenda, Vardan
Oskanyan said. According to the minister, a lot here depends on
Russia itself which is obvious from the statement of the Russian
president.

The Armenian minister thinks that in an organization such as the CIS,
one country should always be the leader and should unite the other
countries around itself. In this context, he attached special
importance to the prospects for the creation free trade zones. “If we
manage to succeed in this, then every country will be satisfied with
concrete economic benefits. Given this, the CIS future will be
promising,” Vardan Oskanyan added.