Yerevan June 07
Marianna Mkrchtyan. The Russian Foreign Ministry presented the details of the agenda of the forthcoming meeting of the heads of the foreign affairs agencies of the Russian Federation and Armenia Sergey Lavrov and Zohrab Mnatsakanyan.
According to a report published on the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry, on June 7, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will hold talks with his Armenian counterpart Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, who will be in Moscow on a working visit.
It is planned to discuss a wide range of issues of bilateral cooperation in the context of the outcome of the meeting of the Russian president Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan on May 14, 2018 in Sochi on the sidelines of the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council. Particular attention will be paid to the issues of the international agenda, integration cooperation within the framework of the EAEU, the CSTO and the CIS, coordination at the UN, OSCE, BSEC and other authoritative international and regional forums
There will be an exchange of views on the issues of the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement (NKS), in which Russia, along with the other co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, plays an active mediating role.
Between Moscow and Yerevan, a high level of foreign policy coordination has been achieved. The positions of Russia and Armenia on issues of the international and regional agenda are close or coincide. Intensive contacts through the foreign ministries of the two countries promote coordination in the foreign policy sphere, including within the framework of the UN, the Eurasian Economic Union, the CIS, the CSTO, the OSCE and other multilateral organizations.
Russian-Armenian relations develop on the basis of the principles set forth in the Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Armenia of August 29, 1997 and the Declaration on Allied Cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Armenia, oriented to the 21st century, from 26 September 2000.
The political dialogue is at the highest level. In 2017, three full-fledged meetings of the heads of the two states took place (in Moscow on March 15, in Sochi on August 23, in Moscow on November 15).
Regular contact between the governments of the two states is maintained. October 24-25, 2017 Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev visited Yerevan on an official visit.
Inter-parliamentary ties are expanding. On February 14 of this year, the Chairman of the National Assembly of Armenia, Babloyan, visited Moscow. June 4-5 this year he was again in Russia to participate in the International Forum on the Development of Parliamentarism, where he met with the heads of the chambers of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, Matvienko and Volodyn.
Joint meetings of the Standing Committee on Foreign Relations of the National Assembly of Armenia with the Council of Federation Committee on International Affairs (March 13-14) and the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots were held in Yerevan (March 24-26, ). The Interparliamentary Commission for Cooperation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia operates.
In 2017, Russia and Armenia celebrated the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations (April 3) and the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance (August 29). Russia is Armenia's leading economic partner (share in foreign trade is 26.7%). Bilateral trade increased in 2017 by 29.7% to $ 1.74 billion (in 2016 – $ 1.34 billion). In the current year, positive dynamics remains: in January-March this year trade increased by 38.5% – up to 513.4 million dollars.
The Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation is actively working (the 18th meeting was held on February 19-20 in Yerevan, the next – it is planned for 2019 in Russia). The volume of accumulated Russian investments in the Armenian economy is 1.8 billion dollars, which is about 35% of all foreign investments). About 2,2 thousand enterprises with Russian capital work in the republic. The largest Russian investor in the Armenian economy is "Gazprom". The company invested about 800 million dollars in gas- energy projects in Armenia; completed the construction and modernization of the 5th power unit of the Hrazdan Thermal Power Plant; is engaged in the reconstruction of the country's gas transportation system and fully meets its needs for natural gas. SC "Rosatom" is working to extend the life of the Armenian nuclear power plant at the expense of Russian credit.
The introduction of Armenia in January 2015 into the Eurasian Economic Union made a new dynamic for bilateral ties. On February 1, 2016, the former Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran Sargsyan is chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission. Russia provides technical and financial assistance to the republic's adaptation to the conditions of the Union. The intergovernmental agreement of May 21, 2015 provides for this purpose to allocate up to 42 million dollars for three years. Interregional ties are actively developing, involving about 70 subjects of the Russian Federation and practically all administrative- territorial units of Armenia. The Program of cooperation in this sphere is being implemented for 2016- 2021.
On October 5-7, 2017, the sixth Russian-Armenian inter-regional forum and the second International Forum of Eurasian partnership were held in Yerevan. The next one is scheduled for June 29 this year. and will be held in the capital of Armenia.
Traditionally, an important place in bilateral relations is occupied by cultural and humanitarian exchanges. On November 15, 2017, the Presidents of the two countries took part in the opening ceremony of the Days of Armenian Culture in Russia at the State Tretyakov Gallery. The corresponding events took place in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Krasnodar, and in a number of other Russian cities. On December 20, 2017, the branch of the Russian Center for Science and Culture in Gyumri began its work.