Comment by the Information and Press Department on Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s official visit to Armenia
On November 10-11, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will pay an official visit to the Republic of Armenia.
Sergey Lavrov is to meet with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and President Armen Sarkissian.
During the talks between Sergey Lavrov and Republic of Armenia Minister of Foreign Affairs Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, there are plans to discuss the entire range of matters regarding bilateral cooperation, foreign policy collaboration at the Eurasian Economic Union, the Collective Security Treaty Organisation and the Commonwealth of Independent States, the coordination of mutual positions and the UN, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, the Black Sea Economic Cooperation and other international forums. They will conduct a detailed exchange of views on international and regional affairs, including prospects for the Nagorno-Karabakh peace settlement. It is expected that a plan of consultations between the Foreign Ministry and the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for 2020-2021 will be signed.
Sergey Lavrov and Zohrab Mnatsakanyan will take part in the opening of an exhibition dedicated to the victory in the Great Patriotic War. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will address lecturers and students of higher education institutions in Yerevan.
The visit will serve as a logical continuation of the packed Russian-Armenian political dialogue aiming to further expand close political, trade and economic, cultural, humanitarian and other cooperation between our countries.
Bilateral relations hinge on the principles formulated by 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 Collaboration between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Armenia in the 21st century of September 26, 2000. The sides have signed over 200 various agreements. The practical implementation of these documents made it possible to facilitate an entirely different bilateral collaboration, to make it well-balanced and to facilitate its long-term nature.
Intensive top-level dialogue facilitates the positive development of Russian-Armenian allied collaboration. In 2019, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan met four times (in Nur-Sultan on May 29, in St Petersburg on June 6, in Yerevan on October 1 and in Ashgabat on October 11), and they had six telephone conversations (on February 25, April 1, June 1, July 5, October 7 and October 12).
In 2019, Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan met four times (on January 25 and October 25 in Moscow, on April 30 in Yerevan and on August 9 in Cholpon-Ata).
The sides maintain active inter-departmental contacts that allow them to address and resolve topical cooperation matters on a mutually beneficial basis.
Inter-parliamentary collaboration continues to expand.
On November 5, 2019, Speaker of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly (Parliament) of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Volodin arrived in Yerevan and attended visiting meetings of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation.
On November 6, 2019, Gyumri hosted the 32nd meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Commission for Cooperation between the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and the National Assembly (Parliament) of the Republic of Armenia, co-chaired by Deputy Federation Council Speaker Yury Vorobyov and Deputy National Assembly Speaker Alen Simonyan.
On September 17, 2019, Moscow hosted a joint meeting of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Ties with Compatriots and the Armenian National Assembly’s Permanent Commission on Regional and Eurasian Integration.
Joint mutual-cooperation bodies are functioning at a steady pace.
On April 3-4, 2019, Moscow hosted the 19th meeting of the bilateral Inter-Governmental Commission on Economic Cooperation, chaired by Russian Minister of Transport Yevgeny Ditrikh and Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan. Yerevan is to be the venue of the 20th anniversary meeting in the first six months of 2020. Work is underway within the framework of the Inter-Governmental Commission’s Russian-Armenian Business Council.
On June 3-4, 2019, Yerevan hosted a meeting of the Joint Board of the Russian Interior Ministry and the Armenian Police Force. Volgograd was the venue of the previous meeting on July 18-19, 2018.
On June 3-7, 2019, Yerevan hosted a meeting of the Russian-Armenian Inter-Governmental Commission on Military-Technical Cooperation.
Russia is Armenia’s leading foreign economic partner. In 2018, mutual trade volume totaled about $1.96 billion, with Russia accounting for 26 percent of Armenia’s foreign trade volumes. The steadily growing mutual trade volumes soared by 7.2 percent in January-August 2019 and reached $1.34 billion.
Russian investments in the Armenian economy have reached almost $2.5 billion and accounts for 45 percent of all foreign investments in the republic, with Russia taking first place in this respect.
Over 2,000 companies with Russian capital operating in Armenia account for over 33 percent of all companies with foreign capital here. Such leading Russian corporations and funds as Gazprom, VTB Bank, Russian Railways, RUSAL and the Russian Direct Investment Fund operate effectively on the Armenian market.
In 2019, a Gazprom-financed sports-academic facility with a kindergarten for 190 children, a school for 700 pupils, an indoor swimming pool, a gym, a mini-football pitch and an indoor skating rink with 350 seats was completed and opened in Yerevan.
Relations between the regions are developing dynamically, and about 70 Russian regions are involved in such relations. The sides continue to implement the inter-governmental Programme of Inter-Regional Cooperation until 2021. On June 29, 2018, Yerevan successfully hosted the 7th Russian-Armenian Inter-Regional Forum on Russian and Armenian digital initiatives for implementing the Eurasian Economic Union’s digital agenda.
There are plans to hold the 8th Russian-Armenian Inter-Regional Forum before the year is out.
On June 24-26, 2019, Head of the Republic of Karelia Artur Parfenchikov visited Armenia. For his part, Governor of the Arkhangelsk Region Igor Orlov stayed there on October 4-9.
Expanded contacts in the field of education, science, information, culture and art, as well as between civil society institutions, facilitate traditionally close and friendly communications between the people of Russia and Armenia.
About 6,000 Armenian citizens study at Russian higher education institutions, including over 1,500 whose studies are funded from the federal budget. Six subsidiaries of Russian higher education institutions, as well as the Russian-Armenian University, function in the republic and have over 3,500 students. About 2,000 Armenians study at Russian secondary vocational training schools.
Moscow is to be the venue of the 5th Russian-Armenian Youth Forum on November 25-28, 2019.
Moscow and Yerevan cooperate constructively and in an attentive manner within the Eurasian Economic Union, Collective Security Treaty Organisation and CIS formats.
Armenia successfully presides in the Eurasian Economic Union throughout 2019. We cooperate proactively on an agenda that has been suggested by the Armenian side: implementing a coordinated energy policy, implementing the ‘digital agenda,’ eliminating barriers and expanding relations with third countries and associations.
We are jointly preparing for Russia’s presidency of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation next year.
The sides cooperated fruitfully at recent meetings of supreme CIS governing bodies in Ashgabat.
Effective foreign policy coordination has been streamlined on the main topics of the global and regional agenda and at universal and specialised international organisations, including the UN, the OSCE, the Black Sea Economic Cooperation and other multilateral forums. National foreign ministries hold regular consultations: In 2018-2019, the sides held about 30 rounds of consultations on matters of mutual interest.
Russia provides Armenia with permanent financial assistance via UN agencies. Today, the following UN Development Programme projects that have crucial significance for the socio-economic development of Armenia are implemented with Russian support:
- Development of Armenia’s rural districts ($5.1 million was allocated in 2015-2019)
- Development of comprehensive rural tourism ($3.1 million in 2016-2019).
The following UN Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) project is implemented:
- Boosting the competitiveness of export-oriented sectors of the Armenian industry by upgrading them and by expanding access to markets, Phase III ($2.2 million in 2019-2022).
The World Food Programme’s project aiming to expand the school catering system in Armenia has received $25 million. And a project of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) has received $5 million since 2013.
Since 2010, the volume of humanitarian relief aid, provided by the UN World Food Programme, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation and the International Civil Defence Organisation, exceeded $70 million.
Russia continues to play an active role in mediatory efforts to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Assistance to those involved in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace settlement ranks among Russia’s foreign policy priorities, and the President of Russia also focuses on this matter.
We are firmly convinced that it is necessary to attain a peace settlement solely by political and diplomatic methods. We believe that, given political will, diplomatic efforts will, sooner or later, make it possible to move forward and to reach a compromise solution.
In turn, we will facilitate efforts to attain a peace settlement, as co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group for the Nagorno-Karabakh peace settlement and in our national capacity, with due consideration for our close relations with Armenia and Azerbaijan.