ARMENIA WILLING TO CONTINUE KARABAKH TALKS IN OSCE MG FORMAT

PanARMENIAN.Net
24.03.2008 19:16 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia’s President-elect, Prime Minister Serzh
Sargsyan met with Russia’s President-elect, First Deputy Chairman of RF
Government Dmitry Medvedev, the RA government’s press office reported.

Welcoming Serzh Sargsyan to the Kremlin, Dmitry Medvedev first of
all congratulated him on the victory secured in the RA presidential
election. By mentioning that this was Serzh Sargsyan’s first visit to
the Russian Federation in his new capacity, Mr. Medvedev expressed
hope that the ever expanding Armenian-Russian relationship would be
maintained during the Armenian president-elect’s tenure of office
and that the two countries would succeed in building on the existing
multifaceted cooperation in different fields for the good of Armenia
and Russia and to the benefit of the two peoples.

RA Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan thanked Dmitry Medvedev for a warm
reception and reciprocated the congratulations on his convincing
victory in Russia’s successfully-held presidential elections of
March 2, 2008. By stressing that Mr. Medvedev was known in Armenia
as a skilled politician and statesman, Serzh Sargsyan expressed
hope that following his assumption of the office of RF President,
the cooperation between the two States would continue developing in
the same spirit of strategic partnership.

Serzh Sargsyan reaffirmed his invitation to Dmitry Medvedev to visit
Armenia at any convenient for him time. The invitation was accepted
with gratitude. The RF President-elect said Armenia will be among the
first countries to be visited following his entry upon the office as
head of state.

Serzh Sargsyan and Dmitry Medvedev discussed a broad spectrum of
issues bearing on bilateral cooperation.

They have referred to the post-electoral developments and the inner
political situation in Armenia. RA Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan
thanked the Russian authorities for their support, understanding and
assistance in this difficult for Armenia time.

During the meeting, Serzh Sargsyan and Dmitry Medvedev touched upon
regional questions and evoked the cooperation within the framework
of various international organizations, inclusive of the CIS, the
CSTO, the United Nations, the OSCE and others. The parties said to
be pleased with the current level of the Armenian-Russian economic
ties. It has been underscored that economic relations between the two
countries were developing dynamically – with the Russian Federation
firmly holding the first place among Armenia’s trade and economic
partners – which were largely promoted by the active work of the
Armenian-Russian intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation.

The Armenian and Russian presidents-elect have similarly spoken about
the Karabakh peace process.

Serzh Sargsyan emphasized that Armenia was prepared to continue
negotiating within the framework of the OSCE Minsk group and assured
that, as Armenia’s president-elect, he stood ready to resume the
talks with the Azerbaijani side.

Dmitry Medvedev invited Serzh Sargsyan to attend the June 6-8 economic
forum in St Petersburg. The invitation was accepted with gratitude.

At the end of the meeting, Serzh Sargsyan thanked Dmitry Medvedev
for constructive discussions and wished every success to the
President-elect of the Russian Federation.