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".