YEREVAN, DECEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. In the sidelines of the working visit to Moscow acting Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan held a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. As ARMENPRESS was informed from the official website of the Prime Minister of Armenia, the interlocutors discussed issues of bilateral and multilateral cooperation.

Greeting Nikol Pashinyan, the Russian President said,

“Honorable Nikol Vovayevich, honorable friends, we are very glad to see you here in Moscow. This is your fist visit following the impressive victory in the parliamentary elections. I want to wish you success in the implementation of the plans you have set before yourself and your team for the benefit of the Armenia and the Armenian people. There is no need to describe our relations, they are really allied with rather broad content. It’s enough to mention only the fact that we confidently preserve the 1st place among Armenia’s foreign economic partners. Russia’s share amounts to 25.5%. Over 2000 enterprises operate in Armenia, trade turnover rises. Last year is rose by nearly 30%. In the 10 months of this year it rose by nearly 18%.

I think there is a positive dynamic, and it should be preserved. We are ready to do that and will do everything possible to preserve such a high level of relations not only in that sphere, but also other directions. I mean also the security sphere and our cooperation in the sidelines of the CSTO, multilateral economic cooperation in the sidelines of the Eurasian Economic Union. In short, we have very rich agenda. We are very glad to see you here. Welcome”.

Acting Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan said,

“I am thankful honorable Vladimir Vladimirovich. I am thankful for the invitation.

I am also very glad to see you, to see our partners. I have already lost the number of our meetings but I was told by the staff of the ceremony at the airport that I am a one of the foreign leaders to pay most visits to Russia. More precisely, I am in the top 3 list. I am sure this emphasizes our unique strategic relations and I am confident this dynamic of relations will be continued and I hope will further develop. Of course, we expect that you will pay an official visit to Armenia next year. We will be very glad for it.

Of course, our political and economic relations develop. We are glad to see the rising interest of Russian tourists towards Armenia and there was a publication in a Russian media outlet that Armenia is the most favored direction of Russian tourists during the New Year holidays and compared to the previous year, the number of tourists will rise by 70%. This can at least mean that people are not only interested, but also that the Russian tourists are very well received in Armenia and they feel very well, which emphasizes the deepness of our relations. These are not only political or economic relations, but are inter-personal relations and I am confident all the mentioned relations will develop.

Recently early parliamentary elections were held in Armenia. I am very glad the elections were held in line with the law. They were free elections. I am also very glad that the international observers recorded that, including the observers from the Russian Federation. Quite a lot of observers participated in the elections.

We are interested in developing relations in all the directions. I am confident the newly elected parliament will develop also inter- parliamentary relations. We are also optimistic over our future economic relations. We are interested in the further integration in the sidelines of the Eurasian Economic Union and we take our presidency over the Eurasian Economic Union very serious. I am confident that as a result of our presidency we will have more productive integration in the sidelines of the EAEU.

I am also confident that we have a rather expanded agenda for today’s discussions and we are in a positive mood. I am confident we will have positive results”.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan