President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Pashinyan,
We recently met in Yerevan, where you successfully – I think you will agree – held the CSTO summit. Thank you once again for the atmosphere you created for a frank discussion on a large number of important issues for all of us. We are meeting here today, and as usual, we use such formats for bilateral talks.
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Once again, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that Russia remains a leading trade and economic partner, with over 30 percent of Armenia's trade falling to Russia; and a leading, perhaps even the main investor, with about 40 percent of investments. Over the first ten months of this year, the growth in trade has been 67 percent. This is a very, very positive indicator.
Nevertheless, there are always questions, and I am happy to have a chance to meet with you.
Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan: Thank you, Mr Putin,
Today we held quite a successful, constructive meeting, and in fact we discussed the entire range of economic issues, both in the restricted and expanded formats.
You mentioned the growth in our mutual trade, which is quite impressive. I hope that with the improvement of the Eurasian Economic Union mechanisms, it will be possible to maintain the momentum that has been outlined.
Of course, our agenda is very busy. I am confident that today we will discuss regional issues, too. Unfortunately, the situation in our region remains tense, and I want to note that the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement remains, of course, the main issue in our region.
Unfortunately, recently we have also seen an escalation of tensions in Nagorno-Karabakh in the Russian peacekeepers’ zone of responsibility. I am sure you are aware that the Lachin corridor was recently blocked, and there are very strong concerns in Nagorno-Karabakh about this. Of course, we always discuss these issues. I hope that today we will be able to discuss all the important issues of regional security.
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