CATHOLICOS OF GREAT CILICIAN HOUSE AND AMBASSADOR OF RUSSIA TO LEBANON
DISCUSS ISSUES REGARDING ARMENIAN-RUSSIAN RELATIONS
ANTELIAS, January 19 (Noyan Tapan). Catholicos of the Great Cilician
House Aram I and newly appointed Ambassador of Russia to Lebanon
Sergei Bukin discussed issues regarding the Armenian-Russian relations
during the January 18 meeting held in the residence of the Catholicos
in Antelias. It was stressed that these relations shouldn’t be only
political, but cultural and should also concern other spheres, taking
into account the centuries-old friendship of the two peoples and the
regional close relations. During the coversation lasted over an hour
Catholicos Aram I and Ambassador Bukin, speaking about the Middle
East, expressed concern in connection with the situation formed in
Iraq. Speaking about Lebanon Patriarch Aram I expressed his viewpoints
to the newly appointed Ambassador about a number of phenomena and also
stressed the role and place of the Armenian Community in the Lebanese
communal life. The interlocutors also touched upon the relations of
the Russian Orthodox Church and the Catholicosate of the Great
Cilician House, about which His Holiness reported wide information,
showing the different stages of the brotherly relations during the
passed years. According to the press service of the Catholicosate of
the Great Cilician House, Ambassador Bukin, who has occupied different
posts in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia for over 30 years
and has worked in different Arab countries, familiarized with the
Armenian history, about which he spoke with respect.