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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Prime Minister,

I would like to thank you again for being here in Russia today.

As we said after our trilateral meeting, and I think you will agree with it, the meeting was instrumental and timely in view of the previous and current developments. We have gathered here to thwart any tragic events on the border and in general between the two countries and peoples, so as to move forward, as we said. All the region’s nations – Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, are interested in that.

Let us hope that the agreements we reached today will bring positive results as soon as possible.

Regarding our bilateral relations, we said repeatedly, and I want to stress it again, that relations between Russia and Armenia are of a strategic and allied nature rooted deep in history. We value that very much and we will continue maintaining this level of contacts in every possible way.

Economically, Russia is Armenia’s biggest trade and economic partner and the biggest investor in the Armenian economy. True, last year the turnover slumped somewhat. However, this year it is progressing rapidly, I would say, and I hope that we will reach the pre-pandemic level and move beyond it.

I am confident that now, after the trilateral format (you know and we agreed about the schedule that I meet with President of Azerbaijan prior to the trilateral meeting) during our bilateral meeting we have a chance to discuss the entire range of our bilateral ties.

Please.

Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan: Thank you, Mr President.

I want to thank you once again for the invitation and the organisation of today’s meetings.

Obviously, our bilateral relations are very important. You have already stressed that Russia and Armenia have strategic and allied relations. We have a very packed agenda practically in all areas. We are cooperating, and we have an agenda within CSTO, CIS, the Eurasian Economic Union.

However, I have to acknowledge that during our recent meetings we have discussed mostly the regional agenda because it has many interdependent issues.

I want to highlight again the role you played in stopping the 44-day war and deploying Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh. Stabilising factors are crucial in our region. You have underscored a number of times today the importance of settling the Nagorno-Karabakh problem. This issue is invariably discussed at our bilateral meetings as well.

Since we have already covered regional issues, I want to note that that despite economic and other difficulties, Russian investments in the Republic of Armenia seem to be on the rise this year. This is very important for us because I think it is a sign for investors that the Republic of Armenia is a very reliable country, and this matters a lot of us.

Of course, COVID-related economic problems, regretfully, persist but we recently noticed with satisfaction the stepping-up of the turnover within the Eurasian Economic Union. This is very important, too.

I hope we will be able to ultimately arrive at the solution on opening all economic and transport communications in our region, which will do a great deal to energise trade and economic relations within the EAEU and Armenian-Russian bilateral ties.

Thank you once again.

Vladimir Putin: I completely agree with you. These communications, transport routes we spoke about in the trilateral format today, are crucial for all the countries in the region, including Russia, because we are interested in these transport routes with our strategic partner Armenia being reliable, diversified and readily available all year round, which is key. I hope we will move onto the final stages of this work. There are some points I saw today that require additional coordination but they are not of fundamental nature, which also became obvious during our discussions today.

As for purely economic and pragmatic issues, I can say that everything has been basically agreed on, so I have no doubt that the progress will be noticeable and positive very soon. And you are absolutely right and I agree with you, we spoke about this during the trilateral discussion: as soon as people see how everything has begun working, the region will have a different atmosphere, there is no doubt about that. Therefore, I want to thank you for today’s constructive conversation.

Meanwhile, we also have an opportunity to speak about bilateral issues. We maintain regular contacts, we often meet and speak regularly over the phone. But today we have a chance to speak in person, so let us seize this opportunity.

Thank you very much.

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