Interfax - Russia & CIS Diplomatic Panorama Wednesday 6:43 PM MSK Lavrov discusses allied interaction with new Armenian foreign minister MOSCOW. May 23 Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan discussed preparations for the meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of Government in Dushanbe on June 1 and the meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Council of Foreign Ministers in Almaty on June 11, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday. Lavrov and Mnatsakanyan also discussed activities of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) institutions, the schedule of bilateral events, and planned contacts on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement process on the level of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, the ministry said. They also discussed allied interaction following Russian President Vladimir Putin's conversation with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Sochi on May 14, it said. Lavrov "once again, now in his personal capacity, congratulated his Armenian counterpart on his appointment to this high-ranking government position." The conversation was held at Armenia's initiative. The Armenian Foreign Ministry's press service said Mnatsakanyan and Lavrov reaffirmed their interest in continuing to expand and deepen relations. Mnatsakanyan also accepted Lavrov's invitation to visit Moscow. "For a more detailed discussion of the Armenian-Russian agenda and promotion of bilateral relations, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan accepted Sergei Lavrov's invitation to visit Moscow in the near future," the press service said. Mnatsakanyan praised Russia's, France's, and the United States' mediating efforts in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. "The Armenian foreign minister reaffirmed Yerevan's commitment to an exclusively peaceful resolution of the problem within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group. In his words, for the process to be successful, a peace-oriented atmosphere is needed," the press service said.