ARMENIAN-RUSSIAN EXTENDED NEGOTIATIONS TAKE PLACE

ARMENPRESS
JUNE 24

The face-to-face meeting of the Armenian and Russian presidents
in Moscow today was followed by the extended Armenian-Russian
negotiations. Opening the meeting Russian president said that the first
part of the bilateral negotiations has already ended, they discussed
developing relations between Armenia and Russia, political issues,
including issue on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict regulation.

"Now we offer to focus on the trade-economic relations. In this
respect the progress is quite good and the increase of the trade
turnover between the two countries is essential. The volume of mutual
investments is also increasing. Particularly, the Russian investments
exceeded 1.2 billion USD which is a great achievement in our relations
and a very good basis for the further development of our relations,"
the Russian president said, noting that cultural cooperation also
exists between the two countries and particularly referred to the
conduction of the cultural years which he said were very good events
directed to the future.

Armenian President Serzh Sargsian once again expressed gratitude
for the invitation and warm reception expressing assurance that the
relations between the two countries will develop drastically. He agreed
that Russian investments in Armenia are quite large and bilateral trade
turnover between the two countries increases, "but our aim is that in 1
or 1.5 years these indexes be measured not by million but by billion."

D. Medvedev said it is a good intention. Serzh Sargsian noted that
the development of cooperation in the humanitarian sphere is also very
important. "We must pass to the future generations the best we have."