Armenian and Russian parliamentarians in a joint statement stressed  the importance of implementing confidence-building measures in the  Karabakh conflict zone

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.