On December 7, Foreign Minister of Armenia Ara Aivazian, who is on a working visit in Russian, held a meeting with Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov.

The meeting launched in a tete-a-tete format, then continued in an expanded one with the participation of the delegations.

The Foreign Minister of Russia welcomed Minister Aivazian on the occasion of his first visit to Moscow. In his turn, the Foreign Minister of Armenia noted that the fact of his first foreign visit to Moscow testifies to the exclusive nature of the relations between Armenia and Russia.

The Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Russia discussed in detail the Armenian-Russian allied relations, as well as the wide range of issues on regional peace and security. Both sides emphasized the strengthening of cooperation between the two countries in multilateral platforms.

“We are ready to consider the important aspects of bilateral relations in the context of the allied cooperation in the political, defense, trade-economic and humanitarian areas, as well as to discuss the multilateral agenda within framework of the EAEU, CSTO and CIS, the issues of foreign policy coordination in the UN and OSCE, as well as other international issues.”- stressed Minister Aivazian. The Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Russia exchanged views on the implementation of the consultation program between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Armenia and Russia in 2020-2021.

At the center of the negotiations were the implementation of the trilateral statement of November 9, including issues on the speedy settlement of humanitarian issues. In this context, Minister Aivazian drew the attention of his colleagues to the imperative for exchanging the prisoners of war and captives, as well as the bodies of those killed, and clarifying the data on missing persons. “We are ready to pay due attention to issues such as the activities of the Russian peacekeepers, the creation of conditions for the return of refugees, further steps to provide humanitarian assistance to the population, logistical issues, including in the context of restoring the infrastructure, etc.”- the Foreign Minister underlined in his remarks.

In the context of the regional security, the Foreign Minister of Armenia stressed that the policy of Azerbaijan and Turkey to establish a center of international terrorism in the South Caucasus region is a threat not only to this region, but also to security and stability in the neighboring regions.

The meeting was followed by the joint press conference of the Foreign Ministers Ara Aivazian and Sergey Lavrov.