Ministry of Foreign Affairs , Russia
April 23 2010

Russia hopes for normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations – spokesman

Russia hopes that Armenia and Turkey will manage to overcome the
current crisis in their relations, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman
Andrey Nesterenko has said, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported on
its website on 23 April.

Asked about Moscow’s reaction to the decision by the Armenian
president to suspend the ratification of the Armenian-Turkish
protocols signed in October 2009, Nesterenko said: "Armenia and Turkey
at this stage have failed to reach a result that would make it
possible to re-establish relations between the two neighbouring
countries and by so doing to improve the political atmosphere in the
Transcaucasus, to create prerequisites for strengthening stability in
this region.

"In a televised address on 22 April Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan
stated a disappointing outcome of lengthy talks on settling relations
with Turkey and declared an impasse. He noted that Armenia had only
suspended the ratification of the protocols and had not withdrawn its
signature. Thus, the good prospects of normalizing relations between
Armenia and Turkey that began a year ago remain.

"We express the hope that the two countries will manage to overcome
the present difficult situation and to create conditions for
full-scale normalization of relations, which is in the interests of
all the states in the region."