Putin to leave for Armenia Thurs to open Year of Russia

ITAR-TASS News Agency
March 23, 2005 Wednesday 6:19 PM Eastern Time

MOSCOW, March 24 — President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation
leaves for Yerevan on Thursday. The main purpose of his visit will
be to attend a ceremony to open a Year of the Russian Federation in
Armenia together with President Robert Kocharyan.

A Kremlin official has pointed out, “This large-scale event accords
with the traditional ties of friendship, spiritual and cultural
proximity of the two peoples”. The programme of the Year of Russia
provides for about 120 joint political, economic, humanitarian,
scientific, technical, and inter-regional activities. They acquire
special importance in view of this year’s celebration of the 60th
anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War (VE-Day). A
Year of Armenia in Russia is planned out for 2006.

Putin is also to meet with Garegin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos
of All Armenians. “The leaders of Russia and Armenia render very kind
of assistance in the development of cooperation between the Russian
Orthodox Church and the Armenian Apostolic Church,” the Kremlin
official emphasized.