ArmInfo. The Russian side is currently working on arranging the visit of Valentina Matviyenko, the Chairperson of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, to Armenia. This was stated on January 21 by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov after discussions with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan in Moscow. According to him, Moscow expects that the 10th Armenian-Russian interregional forum will be timed to coincide with this visit.
According to him, today there is a need for intensified dialogue between the foreign policy departments of Armenia and Russia. "And I will definitely take advantage of the invitation confirmed by Ararat Samvelovich today - to visit Yerevan. We will also resume and maintain regular dialogue at the deputy minister level of foreign affairs agencies. We have agreed to prepare another two-year plan for inter-MFA consultations. We also discussed the possibility of mutual expansion of consular presence, including in the Syunik region of Armenia," Lavrov noted that this is a strategically important region. According to the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry, the expansion of diplomatic missions and an increase in their number serves the interests of both countries.
"At the same time, we are, of course, interested in ensuring that our relations are not negatively affected by extra-regional players who don not support the strengthening of Russian-Armenian alliance," the Russian diplomat said, emphasizing Moscow's commitment to all agreements with Yerevan, including in the military-political sphere. According to Lavrov, the meeting also addressed the significance of the South Caucasus in advancing security objectives across the Eurasian continent.
In the context of the upcoming festive events commemorating the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War, the Russian minister noted that Moscow is looking forward to the participation of Armenian partners in celebrations. Lavrov highlighted that the meeting also discussed the normalization of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations. In this regard, Moscow reaffirmed its willingness to support Yerevan and Baku in all aspects of this normalization process, including the development of provisions for a peace treaty.
"We have confirmed interest in the continued operation of the regional consultative platform "3+3" (which includes Russia, Iran, Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia). We believe this platform holds great promise," Lavrov concluded.