Armenian, Russian presidents hail ties

Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
25 Mar 05

[Presenter] Russian President Vladimir Putin is in Armenia on a working
visit at President Kocharyan’s invitation. Vladimir Putin and Robert
Kocharyan held a one-to-one meeting at the residence after which the
two presidents held a news conference.

The Russian president today also visited the Holy See of Echmiadzin
and met Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II. The Kremlin leader’s
visit will mark the start of the Russian year in Armenia.

[Robert Kocharyan, captioned, in Russian with Armenian voice-over]
I am very glad to welcome the Russian president and delegation. I
would like to note that our meetings are being held in a friendly and
constructive atmosphere. Very serious potential has been established
for cooperation in the political, economic and cultural fields, and
for military cooperation. Now we are trying to develop cooperation
in the humanitarian sphere.

The beginning of the Russian year in Armenia is a very serious event
for which we are prepared. We hope that Armenian citizens in one year
can get more information about today’s Russia. We also discussed
economic issues. We talked about boosting Russian investment. The
Armenian side welcomes that and we shall create all the necessary
conditions to work productively.

We also exchanged opinions on international and regional issues.

[Vladimir Putin, captioned, in Russian with Armenian voice-over] We
had really very useful and productive talks regarding all the spheres
in bilateral relations, as well as international and regional issues.
We are proud that Armenian-Russian relations are developing in all
spheres. Cooperation is developing in the economic, political and
humanitarian fields. The best indicator of this is the beginning of
the Russian year in Armenia.

The main part of our meeting concerned cooperation between Armenia
and Azerbaijan within the framework of the CIS and other structures in
order to resolve with joint efforts common problems such as terrorism,
transnational crime, and arms and drug trafficking.