Armenian minister hails ties with Russia as stable

Interfax news agency, Moscow
10 Jan 05

YEREVAN

Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan has said that relations with
Russia are stable.

“Our relations are very stable, without any upheavals,” he said in an
interview with Interfax.

“In this context, I can say that the entire range of relations with
Russia has improved last year,” Oskanyan said. “While earlier, the
political component of our relations and security cooperation
developed faster (than in other areas), last year also saw some
positive changes in cooperation in the economic sphere,” he said.

“The year 2004 was quite eventful, there were meetings between the
presidents of Russia and Armenia, and exchanges of visits at a fairly
high level,” he said.

“What happened in Georgia or Ukraine did not affect Armenian-Russian
relations in any way and will not affect them in the future,” he said.

Oskanyan praised the development of contacts with NATO. “In 2005,
Armenia will present its programme of individual cooperation with
NATO, on which it is working now,” he said. “It should add a new
quality to our relations with the alliance and should play an
important role in our general security system,” he said.

The minister spoke highly of Armenia’s cooperation with the United
States. “Armenia has been given the status of a country with regular
trade relations with the United States, giving it a chance to expand
trade and economic cooperation and make better use of the
possibilities given by membership of the World Trade Organization,” he
said.