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Yerevan has great expectations of Eurasian integration

"The volume, depth and level of allied strategic interaction between Armenia and Russia speak for themselves," Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said

YEREVAN, December 02. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday is arriving in Armenia on a state visit. Central streets and squares of the country’s capital Yerevan are decorated with state tricoloured flags of the two countries that maintain allied relations.

Russia and Armenia are currently tied by close co-operation in the political, economic, military and humanitarian spheres.

“The volume, depth and level of allied strategic interaction between Armenia and Russia speak for themselves, but we can and should achieve more,” Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said. According to him, “such an intensive political dialogue is natural between countries-allies.”

“Armenia and Russia have signed more than 200 treaties and agreements, the bilateral regulatory framework is being permanently improved,” the minister said. “In terms of the trade-economic relations Russia is our number one partner, half of the total foreign investment in Armenia is made by Russia.”

“More than 1,300 enterprises with Russian capital work in our country,” Nalbandian said. “Economic relations in such spheres as communications, transport, energy, including nuclear energy, information technology, the mining industry, agriculture are successfully developing.”

“The intergovernmental commission for economic co-operation, the military-technical co-operation commission, inter-parliamentary commission are working effectively,” the minister said.

“We pay considerable attention to the development of interregional contacts: all Armenian regions and more than 70 subjects of the Russian Federation are involved in this work,” Nalbandian stressed. The humanitarian relations are on the rise.

“We intend to continue to exert efforts aimed at further raising efficiency of foreign political coordination,” Nalbandian said. “We seek to continue fruitful cooperation within the framework of international organisations based on respect for mutual interests.”

Yerevan has great expectations of the country’s participation in Eurasian integration. “Armenia is linked with the Customs Union countries by thousands of threads, one-third of our exports go to Russia,” Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said at a plenary meeting on the parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg on October 2.

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