Ambassador of Russia: In 2016 Armenian-Russian interaction at all  levels was highly efficient  

ArmInfo. In 2016 the Armenian-Russian interaction at all levels was highly efficient. The relationship was based on mutual confidence and respect, Russian Ambassador to Armenia Ivan Volynkin's address reads. Russian Embassy Counselor Andrey Ivanov read out the address at the Dec 27 reception at the Russian Embassy in Armenia.       

"The trade-economic and cultural-humanitarian ties kept intensively  developing. Delegations and business missions paid active mutual  visits. In October, Yerevan hosted the CSTO Collective Security's  Summit and Russian President Vladimir Putin attended the Summit. In  April and May 2016, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev visited  Armenia. A number of other high-level visits also took place, which  confirms the high level of political cooperation between our  countries. The military-political interaction is also at a proper  level. It is an important element of our bilateral relations and  meets the interests of both states, being of a geopolitical  significance in the region. I am convinced that the trustworthy  allied relations of our countries have a long-term prospect,"  Volynkin said in his address. 

The address also touched on the assassination of Russian Ambassador  to Turkey Andrey Karlov, the Russian plane crash near Sochi that  killed 92 people, as well as the April events in the Karabakh  conflict zone. Ambassador Volynkin pointed out that the outgoing year  was rather hard for everyone.  

For his part, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian noted that  the year 2016 was hard for Armenia, Russia and the entire world. "As  Andrey Ivanov has mentioned, the Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrey  Karlov was assassinated and the Tu-154 plane crashed near Sochi. I  would also like to mention the Armenian losses. Our servicemen  heroically died when repelling the Azerbaijani aggression against  Karabakh," he said, adding that Armenia has always campaigned for  peace because it perfectly knows the price of peace. He noted that  Armenia has always done its best to resolve the Karabakh conflict  peacefully, to establish peace, stability and security in the region,  and it has also done everything possible to contribute to peace in  the regional and international conflict zones. This is why, he said,  Armenia participates in various peacekeeping missions. Minister  Nalbandian expressed hope that the new 2017 year will provide an  opportunity to see the results of joint efforts. 

As regards the Armenian-Russian relations, Nalbandian said that the  year was filled with mutual visits at different levels, which gave a  fresh impetus to the relations and outlined new directions for  cooperation. "A lot has been done in the relations, but I suppose the  joint efforts in 2017 will deepen and expand our allied interaction  in a variety of areas," he said.