On April 25, by laying a wreath at the Monument of the Unknown Soldier next to the Eternal Flame and by paying tribute to the families of the victims of the Great Patriotic War, Armenia’s Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian’s official visit to Russia was launched.

The tête-à-tête meeting of Edward Nalbandian and Sergey Lavrov, the Foreign Minister of Russia, was held at the Hall of Receptions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, and then it proceeded with the participation of delegations in an extended format.

Welcoming Edward Nalbandian, Sergey Lavrov congratulated him on his reappointment as Foreign Affairs Minister of Armenia and expressed satisfaction that the first official visit was made to Russia.

Expressing his gratitude for the invitation and for the warm reception Edward Nalbandian said;

"During the last five years our leaders have had over five dozen meetings. The intensity of the high-level political dialogue is characteristic to the relations of two allied countries, which is reflected in the close cooperation between the Foreign Ministries."

Edward Nalbandian and Sergey Lavrov expressed satisfaction that after the re-election of the President of the Republic of Armenia the implementation of the agreements reached with the leadership of the Russian Federation during the first foreign trip is a new impetus for the further development of the allied relations, noting that the relations between the countries continue to develop and are enriched with new substance.

The Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Russia discussed a wide range of issues regarding the bilateral relations.

The Ministers also discussed issues regarding the expansion and modernization of the legal framework which consists of more than two hundred documents. In this context the ongoing work on new project contracts was discussed, which will be signed during the upcoming high-level meetings.

Foreign Ministers discussed the further deepening of economic cooperation projects, referred to the work of the intergovernmental commission.

It was noted with satisfaction that in the result of the intensive work of the previous years the amount of trade turnover has significantly increased.

Edward Nalbandian and Sergey Lavrov referred to the cooperation in the military and military-technical spheres.

The Ministers emphasized the importance of the inter-parliamentary ties and the activity of the Commission of Cooperation between the legislative bodies of the two countries.

It was noted by both sides that decentralized cooperation that includes all the marzes of Armenia and the most part of the regions in Russian Federation, makes new opportunities for further development of the bilateral relations. In that framework the role of interregional forum was emphasized, the third part of which is planned to be organized this year.

The two sides expressed satisfaction with the successful cooperation between the Foreign Ministries of Armenia and Russian Federation, within the framework of which consultations were held in seven thematic areas last year. They touched upon the schedule of the consultations planned for this year.

The agenda of the talks included issues concerning cooperation within the UN, CSTO, CIS, OSCE and other international organizations.

In the framework of the upcoming presidency of Armenia in the European Council and the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization a specific reference was made to the agenda of those structures.

The foreign ministers of Armenia and Russia discussed issues of further development of cooperation in the humanitarian field.

Foreign Ministers had a detailed conversation on international and regional issues, developments in North Africa and the Middle East, the ongoing negotiations over Iran's nuclear program.

Reference was made to the regional security issues in the South Caucasus.

During the meeting specific focus was made on the process of the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. In this context Armenia’s Foreign Minister expressed gratitude for the permanent efforts towards peaceful settlement of the conflict made by Russia and the other Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group.

The Ministers noted with satisfaction that the meetings of the two Foreign Ministers are marked by mutual understanding and effectiveness characteristic to allied relations.
The meeting was followed by a joint press conference.