RUSSIA, ARMENIAN PRESIDENTS DISCUSS BILATERAL TIES

news.az
Jan 19 2010
Azerbaijan

Serzh Sargsyan and Dmitry Medvedev Russian President Dmitry Medvedev
and his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan have had a wide-ranging
discussion on bilateral cooperation.

Sargsyan paid a brief working visit to Moscow on Monday. The Armenian
president was the first foreign leader to visit Russia in 2010.

"The meeting between the two presidents was held in a traditionally
friendly and constructive atmosphere," Russian presidential aide
Sergey Prikhodko said.

Energy is a priority in Russian-Armenian cooperation. The two countries
have been discussing major new projects in the mining and processing
industries, transport and communications. Bilateral trade is currently
close to $1 billion.

Prikhodko said the presidents also exchanged views on a variety of
global issues, on bilateral cooperation in the Collective Security
Treaty Organization (CSTO) and on the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute between
Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The mediators in the Karabakh conflict – the USA, Russia and France
that comprise the OSCE Minsk Group – reported some important progress
in talks between the Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders in Munich
late last year, but tensions between the two ex-Soviet republics
remain high.