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President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev: Mr President, I would like to sincerely welcome you here.

As part of the regular interaction between Russia and Armenia, we are meeting today to discuss the current situation, our bilateral relations, and regional and international problems.

I think the fact that we have been doing this so frequently and systematically is very important in promoting the current high levels of trust and understanding between our nations and the spirit of strategic partnership that has always been (and, I hope, will continue to be) a distinctive feature of the relations between our states.

President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan: Thank you, Mr President, for inviting me and for this opportunity to discuss the issues on our agenda.

After our last meeting, our foreign ministries, other ministries, and intergovernmental commissions have continued to work intensively. I wanted us to meet so that we would discuss several issues regarding our bilateral relations, matters of regional security, the current status of the Armenian-Turkish process, and naturally, the issue of Nagorno Karabakh.

I would like to congratulate you on the opening of a major innovation centre in Yerevan. This is a very good step. And I would like to let you know that the Government of Armenia, along with the Russian Federation embassy in Yerevan, is working intensively to restore the monument and memorial complex honouring the Russian army officers who died in the Russo-Turkish War [in the Caucasus in the 19th century].

I would also like to once again thank you for a $500 million loan Russia extended to Armenia last year. Why am I bringing this up now? Because just now, we have begun to feel the positive effects of this loan. During the first quarter, we saw a 5.5 percent growth in GDP. I think that we will continue to rebuild and restore what we lost.

Thank you very much. It is a pleasure to be here.

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