ASTANA, July 3. /TASS/. Moscow continues to consider Yerevan its ally and economic cooperation between the two countries is showing noticeable growth, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk told reporters.

"We consider Armenia our ally. We have very important economic relations. Our trade turnover with Armenia reaches $7.3 bln and if you look at the statistics, in January - April it doubled [compared to the same period last year]. The pace is very good, the economy is developing very well," he said, also recalling Armenia’s active participation in the EAEU.

At the same time, Deputy Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Information and Press Department Andrey Nastasin said that the West wants to break Azerbaijan’s and Armenia’s cooperation with Russia as it invites those countries to the NATO summit, adding that by forcing its recipes in Caucasus the West leads to new dividing lines appearing in the region.

"Another example of the Americans attempting to extend their destructive influence to all regions of the world. With absolute indulgence of weak-willed satellites in Europe, Washington sets the task of breaking our friends, neighbors from cooperation with Russia," he told a briefing when asked a respective question.

Washington will host NATO’s jubilee summit marking the 75th anniversary of the North Atlantic Treaty of 1949 on July 9-11, 2024. The summit will focus on establishing a new structure for helping Ukraine and building 'a bridge to NATO' for Ukraine. Representatives of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Israel, Arab countries and partners of NATO in the Indo-Pacific region have been invited to the meeting of NATO members’ heads.