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    Categories: 2022

Putin to Khachaturyan: Armenia is not just our partner, it is also our strategic ally, and we appreciate it

ARMINFO
Armenia –
Marianna Mkrtchyan

ArmInfo. On the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Russian leader Vladimir Putin had a conversation with Armenian President Vahagn  Khachaturyan.

According to the Kremlin press service, during the conversation,  Putin expressed the hope that Khachaturyan did not coming to St.  Petersburg to participate in the Economic Forum.

"We have been holding this event for 25 years, it has become a  landmark, at least for our country, for Russia. I hope for our  partners as well. And Armenia is not just our partner, it is also our  strategic ally, we appreciate it. We understand everything that is  happening today in Armenia, around Armenia, we are determined to  develop our partnership relations, We are interested in the situation  of the country to be stable and guarantee development.

I hope that our meeting today will also contribute to this," Putin  said.

In turn, Khachaturyan noted that he had not been to St. Petersburg  for a long time, he had been there in Soviet years- these were the  1980s, until 1992.

"And this is another opportunity for me to see how [the city] has  changed. And I can also give an assessment, as a former mayor of the  city, that in reality the city looks very good.  I know your personal  attitude towards St. Petersburg – I also feel about Yerevan," he  said.

As for the St. Petersburg forum, the President of Armenia stated with  regret that he was taking part in it for the first time. At the same  time, he assured that as an economist, as a specialist, he always  followed, and always highly appreciated it, because from the economic  point of view, very interesting discussions are taking place here.

"And yesterday's discussion, which took place on the platforms, is  also very interesting: the economic leaders of the country, your  adviser [assistant to the President M. Oreshkin], the Minister of  Economy [M.  Reshetnikov], the chairman of the Central Bank [E.  Nabiullina]. And I also wanted, as a specialist, to understand how  events will develop, and my, so to speak, expert assessment coincided  with what you also spoke about today.

By the way, I followed very carefully. I have always been engaged in  the economic aspect and I want to say that I agree with your  conclusions. In fact, this is a new time. Actually, we probably need  to think about how to develop further in the new conditions that  provide new opportunities", added the RA President.

At the same time, Khachaturyan agreed, for example, with the  conclusions made by the head of the Central Bank: there is no need to  think that this situation will change, sanctions will stop or end  soon – you just need to get used to it and prepare the economy for  completely different tests.

At the same time, he expressed confidence that the Russian economy  will endure, based on what resources are available, what  opportunities are available, taking into account the past two months.   "Those expectations, forecasts, as you also have mentioned, even by  Russian specialists, financiers and economists, did not come true.

It is also interesting what methods the Central Bank, economic  bodies, the Ministry of Finance used to ensure that the ruble  recovered, inflation stopped, and development continued. Even now,  the current, latest forecasts of the International Monetary Fund have  also changed towards positive, that is, the assessments that were  given," the Armenian leader added.

At the same time, Khachaturyan expressed his conviction that the  Armenian people appreciate the efforts of the President of Russia in  the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. ". I can state that  your efforts made for stopping the war are appreciated not only by  myself personally, but also I know that they are appreciated by the  people of Armenia. 

In fact, you wanted to stop it early, somehow end the war, and I know  your efforts. There was such an opportunity on October 19 [2020] – we  talked about this with Sergei Viktorovich [Lavrov] when he was in  Yerevan. But it so happened that on November 9 [2020], but most  importantly, the war stopped.  And after that, your efforts to  prevent any hostilities, so that these agreements between you, the  Prime Minister [of Armenia] and the President [of Azerbaijan] are  actually consolidated and observed, is also very important for us,"  he said.

At the same time, the President of Armenia noted that both he and the  Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, the Government of the  Republic of Armenia are determined to live together with Russia, to  use joint efforts in order to simply develop. "I'm sure that our  further relations will develop, of course".

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