Statement by the President of Armenia during the joint press conference on the results of the negotiations held in the framework of his state visit to the Russian Federation

Thank you, Mr. President,
Distinguished representatives of the mass media,

Before sharing with you the results of the meetings which have been concluded moments ago, I would like to express sincere gratitude to my friend and colleague Dmirti Medvedev for the invitation to conduct a state visit to the Russian Federation. The is the first state visit in the history of the relations between our two countries. And we realize that it reflects the exceptional nature of our relations. It means that we have transcended the good-neighborly relations and now we are building our allied relations in the spirit of a strategic partnership, and we are quite content with it. As for the meeting, Dmitry Medvedev has already presented comprehensively and in detail the subject matter of our meeting which actually gave start to the state visit to the Russian Federation.

On my own behalf, I would like to note that in more than a year we have had two state visits which were intermitted with numerous meetings between the state and government leaders, as well as between the representatives of the legislature, Ministries and Agencies, civil society. All this testifies to a very positive impulse typical of the relations of very close countries which build their relations in the spirit of a true alliance.

We have been able to ensure a stable rate of growth in all areas: active political dialogue goes on, we have taken on the implementation of new projects, expanded contacts in the humanitarian area and interregional ties. It is important because it demonstrates the general logic of the relations between Armenian and Russia which continue to strengthen. These works will be supported by the new large Agreement on Humanitarian cooperation which will endow new opportunities for the efficient cooperation in the areas of science, culture and education. We have discussed the whole range of the issues of mutual interest, and they are plenty.

In the economic area, we have large common programs. It should be noted that the nature of our relations in that area allowed us to avoid qualitative changes even during the crisis. Russia has been and remains Armenia’s first partner with regard to the turnover, investments and number of joint ventures.

However, it doesn’t mean that we will rest with that. Our trade and economic relations should be diversified, every opportunity in the energy, communication, agriculture, construction areas should be used, cooperation between our regions and tourism should be boosted, investment programs and cooperation in the area of high technologies should be developed, which is also true for the health care and other areas. Activities of an important coordinating structure such as the Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation is called to implement all these programs, and we expect the structure to ensure a timely realization of all agreements as well as to present new proposals for cooperation. I would like to thank the Russian Co-Chair of the Commission, Mr. Levitin for his good work.

I am also glad that in the framework of this visit, we have signed a number of agreements and documents. It may seem that with such a solid legal base, which comprises almost 200 interstate, intergovernmental and other documents, it would be difficult to think about further expansion. But the very fact that today we signed new documents demonstrates that there are possibilities to open new horizons and jointly implement programs which have long-term perspectives.

Naturally, we have spoken about cooperation in the area of international relations, about regional issues and discussed in detail the NK settlement process.

With this regard, I once again thanked the President of the Russian Federation, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia for their consistent mediating efforts which they make in close cooperation with the other Co-Chair states of the OSCE Minsk Group. With the mediation of Dmitry Medvedev and my personal participation there have been held ten meetings of the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan, three declarations have been signed which have not only helped to uphold fragile peace but also have created conditions, I wouldn’t say for confidence building but in any case for some signs of confidence among the parties.

The Presidents of Russia, France and the United States have adopted three joint Declarations - in L’Aquila, Muskoka and Deauville - pertinent to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict which outline the peaceful settlement.

At the today’s meeting, I have reiterated once again Armenia’s commitment to the speedy resolution of the conflict through exclusively peaceful means, on the basis of the indivisible principles of international law. We believe that the settlement should be reached in that spirit, with the opportunities to exercise basic right and liberties in the conditions of guaranteed peace, security and stability.

I would like to once again thank the President of the Russian Federation for a warm welcome and emphasized consideration.