ArmInfo."At today's talks in Yerevan, we managed to discuss a wide range of issues of mutual interest - we are time-tested allies, strategic partners." Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated this at a joint press conference with his Armenian counterpart Ara Aivazian on May 6, presenting the results of the talks in Yerevan.
At the same time, the Russian minister stressed that a political dialogue is actively developing between Yerevan and Moscow, primarily at the high and highest levels. "Since the beginning of the year, the leaders of the two countries have held two full-scale face-to-face meetings and eight telephone conversations, the heads of government have met twice. Meetings are periodically held at the level of ministries and departments," he said, adding that inter-parliamentary cooperation is strengthening. In this context, Lavrov said that the Chairman of the Armenian Parliament Ararat Mirzoyan will visit Moscow on May 16-18. In his words, a number of visits of delegations from Armenia to Russia are expected in the coming months.
"We highly appreciate the quality of our cooperation within the framework of integration projects, primarily within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union, the CIS, the CSTO," he said, adding that the entire range of trade and economic issues was considered at the talks. In this context, the diplomat stated that despite a slight decrease in trade turnover last year, Russia remains the main trade and economic partner and investor of Armenia. At the same time, he added that Russia expects to restore the growth trends in trade between the two countries within the framework of the next meeting of the intergovernmental commission on economic issues this year.
"We discussed joint efforts in the fight against coronavirus infection. Russia has supplied Armenia with several thousand doses of Sputnik V vaccine, and now the possibility of supplying another 1 million doses, as well as organizing its production in the territory of Armenia, is being considered," Lavrov said. The minister added that cooperation in the field of education is successfully developing, recalling in this vein that now more than 5 thousand Armenian citizens are studying in Russia, of which 2 thousand are under scholarships that our state provides at the expense of the federal budget. "In addition, he continued, about 5 thousand students study in Yerevan, at the Russian-Armenian University and six branches of Russian higher educational institutions. - said the minister.