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Armenia ready to step up cooperation with Russia, top diplomat says

According to Ararat Mirzoyan, Yerevan’s willingness to deepen relations with Russia is "fully reflected in the program of the government that was formed following early parliamentary elections"

MOSCOW, August 31. /TASS/. Armenia is ready to deepen strategic relations with Russia, which is Yerevan’s chief military-political ally and economic partner, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said on Tuesday at a meeting with Russia’s top diplomat Sergey Lavrov in Moscow.

"This is my first foreign trip as Armenia’s foreign minister. And this is hardly surprising. Russia is Armenia’s military-political ally and chief economic partner. In this connection, I would like to reaffirm Armenia’s willingness to continue to build its relations with Russia based on the treaty on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance of 1997 and the declaration on allied interaction," he said.

According to Mirzoyan, Yerevan’s willingness to deepen relations with Russia is "fully reflected in the program of the government that was formed following early parliamentary elections."

In the new program of the Cabinet, the team of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan highlighted the importance of deepening strategic relations with Moscow and continuing cooperation within the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).

Mirzoyan was appointed Armenia’s new Foreign Minister on August 19. Prior to that, he was the speaker of the Armenian parliament.

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