Official website of the President of Russia

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President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev: Mr President, I would like to sincerely welcome you to Moscow – or rather, its suburbs.

We see each other often and we have regular meetings. In 2008, we had six or seven meetings, and last year, we met at least seven times as well. This is a pledge of good-willed, friendly relations between our nations. I am very happy that this year is starting off with another such meeting.

Naturally, we will be discussing the current agenda, our economic ties, and our foreign policy contacts. We will also talk about global problems and the major projects we are working on. Of course, we will talk about the Nagorno Karabakh settlement as well. We will speak about what can be done this year, because this year we can do a great deal of good for our relations and our peoples.

I hope that the economic downturn brought on by the [global financial] crisis will finally end. The instruments we have agreed on will start working – instruments for cooperation in the economic sphere as well as military and foreign affairs cooperation.

I would like to once again sincerely welcome you and I count on having good discussions regarding all of these important matters.

President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan: Thank you, Mr President, for your invitation.

This is my first visit abroad in 2010, as well as my first meeting with head of another state, and I am very happy that this state is the Russian Federation. The timing is also very appropriate: we can examine the outcomes of our work to strengthen Russian-Armenian cooperation in 2009 and set new goals for 2010.

I think that we worked very hard in 2009. We reinforced our strategic partnership and enlivened our economic and humanitarian relations. I feel that the foundation is set to reach even greater results in 2010. I think that we need to do everything we can to ensure that our relations yield serious results every year.

I would like to once again thank you for your invitation. And I would like to thank you and Russia for supporting out initiatives to strengthen peace and stability in our region. We are interested in resolving all problems peacefully, and in this regard, we are not merely strategic allies; I think that we also view these issues from the same angle.

Dmitry Medvedev: Indeed.

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