YEREVAN, November 21. /TASS/. The Armenian leadership reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening allied relations with Russia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Satirday following the visit of the Russian interdepartmental delegation to Armenia.
"The Armenian leadership has confirmed the course towards developing and deepening allied relations with the Russian Federation," he said.
Russia expects that trade and economic ties between Moscow and Yerevan will build up positive dynamics, Lavrov added. "Of course, we very much hope that our trade, economic, investment ties, which, by the way, were minimally affected during coronavirus pandemic, will build up positive dynamics," he said.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Armenian President Armen Sargsyan, during the talks with the Russian delegation on Saturday, reaffirmed their commitment to implementing the statement of the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia on Nagorno-Karabakh, Lavrov added.
"We also met with the President of Armenia. Both he and Prime Minister stressed that this statement helped to solve the most serious problems, helped to save lives. And they are fully committed to ensuring that the agreement is fulfilled in the future," the minister said.
The joint statement by the leaders of Russia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan on Nagorno-Karabakh is the only way to overcome the crisis, attempts to question it are unacceptable, Lavrov noted. "It was recognized by everyone that this statement is an uncontested way of resolving the situation, which turned very acute a few weeks ago. It was unanimously noted that attempts to question this statement not only domestically, but also abroad are unacceptable. And we have confirmed our determination to do everything for this statement to continue to work," the minister said.
According to Lavrov, the statement made it possible to end the bloodshed and move on to the processes of a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Lavrov noted that the Russian delegation, which arrived on Saturday with a visit to Yerevan, held comprehensive negotiations with the Armenian leadership.
The main attention during the talks of the Russian delegation in Yerevan was paid to the tasks of clear and full implementation of the statement of the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia on the cessation of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh, Lavrov added.
On Saturday, Russia’s intergovernmental delegation arrived in Yerevan, which includes Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko, and Head of Rospotrebnadzor Anna Popova.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia would send a delegation to Azerbaijan and Armenia, consisting of the heads of a number of ministries and departments. The Russian leader stressed that the delegation’s task would be to consider the most pressing issues of the implementation of the trilateral statement on Nagorno-Karabakh on November 9, including humanitarian issues.