ARMENIA-RUSSIA RELATIONS STRATEGIC – DRAFT SECURITY DOCUMENT
Tigran Liloyan

ITAR-TASS News Agency, Russia
December 1, 2006 Friday

Relations between Armenia and Russia are strategic; they are
essential for the maximum security of Armenia and have bilateral and
multilateral significance, says a draft national security strategy
under consideration at the Armenian parliament.

"The multifaceted relations are based on the similarity of long-term
strategic interests of Armenia and Russia," Defense Minister and
National Security Council Secretary Serzh Sargsyan quoted from
the draft.

"Armenia views military cooperation with Russia as an important
factor of the neutralization of external military threats. The
Armenian-Russian military union within the regional security system
of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) plays a major
role in the preservation of the military and political balance in the
South Caucasus and international relations at large," the draft runs.

Yerevan wants to receive clear-cut international guarantees of
non-aggression and security of Karabakh residents, and will accept
Karabakh settlement formulas, which will rule out the Karabakh
subordination to Azerbaijan, the draft says.

An interdepartmental commission will consider the document and submit
it to the government in spring. The strategy will be the core of
specific programs.