ArmInfo. The joint session of the Permanent Commission on Foreign Relations of the National Assembly of Armenia and the Committee on CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots of the State Duma of Russia was concluded in Yerevan.
Opening the meeting, RA NA Standing Committee on Foreign Relations Chairman Armen Ashotyan highlighted the importance of discussing the Armenian-Russian agenda issues at the level of the commissions and emphasized that honest and partnership cooperation in this format supplements the high level of the political dialogue existing in the relations of the two countries. According to him, the Armenian-Russian interparliamentary cooperation is at a high level. "We highly value our relations with the Russian parliament in full, and we are ready, if necessary, to pass on to our colleagues our political experience gained during the transition to parliamentary rule," Ashotyan said.
K. Zatulin, Chairman of the Committee on CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, thanked for the warm welcome, turned to the Russian-Armenian inter-parliamentary relations, to the political processes in both countries. He also highly appreciated the effectively and steadily developing Armenian-Russian interaction. According to Zatulin, over the past two years, numerous works have been carried out: important documents have been ratified for the RA and RF, the trade turnover between Armenia and Russia has increased by 30%. On the agenda of the meeting, Armenian and Russian parliamentarians K. Bekaryan, representatives of the Armenian-Russian Parliament, V.Vodolatsky, A.Gegamyan, V.Katenev.
At the end of the meeting, a joint statement was adopted, in which the parties, in particular, noted with satisfaction the closeness and convergence of positions on many issues of the international agenda concerning the role and functioning of international institutions and the observance of universally recognized principles and norms of international law. The statement underscored the successes achieved in the development of the entire range of bilateral ties, as well as effective Armenian-Russian interaction within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union, CSTO and the CIS. In this regard, support was expressed for the continuing joint efforts within the CSTO framework to ensure a stable and peaceful development of the South Caucasus. The parties spoke in favor of further strengthening of the allied relations between Armenia and Russia in the interests of the fraternal peoples of the two countries in the line of ensuring stability and security in the South Caucasus.
The parliamentarians confirmed the desire to continue the search for a peaceful solution to the Nagorno- Karabakh conflict on the basis of the principles contained in the joint statements of the presidents of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries and the provisions of the Joint Statement of the Heads of Delegations of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries, made in Vienna on December 7, 2017, and stressed the need for full compliance and implementation of the set of measures for restoring confidence voiced at summits in Vienna and St. Petersburg, as well as at the meeting of Presidents A and Azerbaijan in October 2017 in Geneva. In this context, the Parties noted the inadmissibility of militaristic rhetoric and xenophobic statements. The parliamentarians stressed the need to continue the course on strengthening cooperation both internationally and regionally.
The parties agreed to hold a regular joint meeting in the city of Moscow, the Russian Federation, in the second half of 2018.