Sputnik News Service

Thursday 10:00 AM UTC

 

 

MOSCOW, December 27 (Sputnik) – Russian President Vladimir Putin is meeting on Thursday with acting Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

 

Diplomatic relations between Russia and Armenia were established on April 3, 1992.

 

Over 200 interstate, intergovernmental and inter-agency treaties and agreements have been signed by the two countries. Fundamental documents include the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance from August 29, 1997 and the Declaration of Allied Cooperation in the 21st Century between Russia and Armenia, which was signed on September 26, 2000.

 

Russian-Armenian relations are defined by regular top- and high-level contacts.

 

Former Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan made his first state visit to Russia on October 23-25, 2011.

 

On December 2, 2013, Russian President Vladimir Putin paid a state visit to Armenia.

 

In 2014, Putin and Sargsyan met on the margins of the informal Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) summit on May 8 in Moscow. On August 9, the presidents met in Sochi in the context of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement. The leaders of the two countries met again on November 6 and on December 24 in Moscow in 2014.

 

On April 24, 2015, Putin visited Armenia to participate in the events dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the genocide of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire. During the visit, he held talks with Sargsyan.

 

On May 8-9, 2015, the former Armenian president visited Moscow to participate in the celebrations marking the 70th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War.

 

In 2016, the Russian and Armenian presidents had three full-fledged bilateral meetings. They met in Moscow during the working visits of the Armenian President to Russia on March 10 and August 10, and on the sidelines of the trilateral summit on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement in St. Petersburg on June 20.

 

The heads of states also participated in the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council (SEEC) meeting in Astana on May 31 of 2016, in the meeting of the Commonwealth of Independent Nations (CIS ) Heads of State Council on September 16 in Bishkek, in a session of the CSTO on October 14 in Yerevan. They also met during the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the CSTO on December 26 in St. Petersburg.

 

On March 15, 2017, the former Armenian President made an official visit to Moscow, and on August 23, 2017, he came to Sochi with a short working visit.

 

On November 15, 2017, the presidents of the two countries met again in Moscow.

 

Putin and Sargsyan opened the Armenian Culture Days in Russia at a solemn ceremony in Moscow on November 15, 2017.

 

On April 2017, the Russian and Armenian leaders took part in the SEEC meeting in Kyrgyzstan and in the informal meeting of the heads of the CSTO member states. They also took part in the meeting of the CIS Heads of State Council and in the SEEC meeting in Sochi on October 11. The next meetings took place in Minsk on November 30 at the session of the CSTO and in the Moscow region on December 26, where they participated in an informal meeting of the heads of the CIS member states.

 

In March 2018, Armen Sarkissian won the presidential elections in Armenia. On April 25, Putin held a telephone conversation with the new president.

 

On May 8, 2018, Putin had a telephone conversation with new Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to congratulate him on assuming the office.

 

The first meeting between Putin and Pashinyan took place on May 14, on the sidelines of the EAEU summit in Sochi.

 

On June 13, the Russian leader met with Pashinyan in Moscow, when the Armenian prime minister arrived in Russia for the opening of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

 

On July 14-15, Sarkissian visited Moscow. On the first day of his visit, he attended a gala concert starring world opera stars at the Bolshoi Theater ahead of the FIFA World Cup final. On the second day, the Armenian president attended the closing ceremony of the championship and the final match.

 

On September 8, Pashinyan paid a working visit to Moscow and met with Putin. They discussed key issues in the development of the Russian-Armenian allied relations and cooperation in the Eurasian region, in particular, in the EAEU and the CSTO.

 

On September 28, Putin and Pashinyan took part in a meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State in Tajikistan’s capital of Dushanbe. They also met on November 8 at the CSTO summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, and on December 6 at the session of the SEEC and during an informal CIS summit in St. Petersburg.

 

The governments of the two countries have also been developing a constructive relationship.

 

On January 24-25, 2017, former Armenian Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan came to Russia with an official visit. On October 24-25, 2017, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev paid an official visit to Armenia.

 

On June 14, 2018, Medvedev met with Pashinyan to discuss key issues of trade, economic and humanitarian Russian-Armenian cooperation.

 

The governments of the two countries maintain regular contacts through the CIS and the EAEU.

 

Moscow and Yerevan also maintain active contacts at the level of foreign ministers.

 

On June 7, 2018, new Foreign Minister of Armenia Zohrab Mnatsakanyan came to Moscow on a working visit.

 

On September 26, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Mnatsakanyan had a conversation in New York on the margins of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly.

 

At the same time, the countries maintain active dialogue on ministerial and departmental levels and actively develop inter-parliamentary ties.

 

Russia and Armenia cooperate in addressing global issues on various international platforms: the United Nations, the CIS and the CSTO.

 

The two countries have the same or similar positions on most of the key international problems.

 

Russia, along with other co-chairs (the United States and France) of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group, plays an active mediating role in the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

 

Russia is Armenia’s key foreign trade partner. Its share in foreign trade is 26.7 percent. In 2017, bilateral trade increased by 29.7 percent and amounted to $1.7 billion, while in 2016 it totaled $1.34 billion. The volume of Russian exports amounted to $1.2 billion, and imports reached $514.7 million in 2017.

 

In January-October 2018, the bilateral foreign trade amounted to $1.57 billion. Russian exports and imports totaled $1.05 billion and $515.6 million respectively.

 

Russian exports to Armenia include mineral products, machinery, food and agricultural raw materials, equipment and transport systems, metals and metal products and other goods. Imports include food and agricultural goods, textiles and footwear, precious metals and stones.

 

The Russian-Armenian Intergovernmental Commission for Economic Cooperation is working effectively. Its 18th meeting was held in Yerevan in February of 2018.

 

Russia is Armenia’s leading foreign investor. The volume of accumulated Russian investments is $1.8 billion, which is about 35 percent of all foreign investments in the country. About 2,200 enterprises with Russian capital operate in the republic.

 

The largest Russian investor in the Armenian economy is the Gazprom energy giant. The company has invested about $800 million in gas projects in Armenia, completed construction and modernization of the 5th power unit of the Hrazdan Thermal Power Plant (TPP). It is also is engaged in the reconstruction of the Armenian gas transmission system of and fully meets Yerevan’s needs for natural gas.

 

Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom is working on extension of the lifetime of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) at the expense of a Russian loan.

 

The Russian Railways company, international group of mining companies GeoProMining Gold, VTB Bank and the Rusal aluminum giant are among the largest Russian companies operating in Armenia.

 

Russian-Armenian defense industry cooperation is aimed at ensuring the security of both countries and the southern flank of the CIS, as well as stability in the Trans-Caucasus. The Armenian Armed Forces perform alert duty missions as part of the CIS Integrated Air Defense System. The 102nd Russian military base is deployed in the republic. Russia and Armenia also formed a joint military force.

 

Russian Federal Security Service Border Troops in Armenia, together with the Armenian border guards, protect the country’s borders with Turkey and Iran.

 

In April 2016, the two governments signed the Armenian-Russian agreement on cooperation in the field of activities in the peaceful exploration and use of outer space. A station of the Russian Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) opened on the territory of the Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory in Armenia in December 2018.

 

The regional cooperation is also actively developing. About 70 Russian regions and almost all Armenian territorial administrative units participate in it. In June 2018, the 7th Russian-Armenian Interregional Forum was held in Yerevan.

 

Cultural and humanitarian contacts traditionally play an important part in the Russian-Armenian relations. In 2016, Armenia successfully conducted the Days of Russia, the Week of Russian Cinema, the Days of Moscow and St. Petersburg, and the Days of the Russian Word. In 2017, the Days of Armenian Culture were held in Russia.

 

The Russian-Armenian University, founded in 1997, is one of Armenia’s leading establishments of higher education. About 3,500 Armenian citizens study under the programs of Russian higher education in this university and in six branches of Russian institutions, which are operating in Armenia.

 

The Russian Center for Science and Culture opened in Yerevan in December, 2017.

 

According to the Russian Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat), 368,000 Russians visited Armenia in 2017, which is 27.8 percent increase from 2016. The flow of tourists though amounted to just over 90,000 people.