The official visit of the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Armenia Zohrab Mnatsakanyan commenced on the morning of October 12: Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan visited and laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. 

Afterwards, the Foreign Minister of Armenia Zorab Mnatsakanyan met with the Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov at the Reception House of the Foreign Ministry of Russia.

Welcoming Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and his delegation, Foreign Minister of Russia noted: “This visit has been preplanned for a long time and today it is taking place under such conditions in which a number of members of international community are putting serious efforts aimed at de-escalating the situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone. Along with our main and most important topic, today we plan to address issues related to our cooperation on both bilateral and multilateral platforms, including those within the framework of the UN and the OSCE”.

Expressing gratitude for the warm welcome, Minister Mnatsakanyan particularly stressed: "I am grateful that we managed to maintain the intentions and the program of this official visit to Moscow. I am very happy to be here in Moscow, although two days ago we held quite long negotiations in order to achieve success in de-escalating the situation and ceasing the hostilities. 

Of course, today we have an opportunity to touch upon our relations in all dimensions. We attach a great importance to maintaining the dynamics of the meetings. Our meeting is now held within the framework of an official visit, but at the same time I am grateful that we are in constant contact in all directions, both at the level of the leaders, at our level, as well as at the level of respective ministries.

Indeed we have a very extensive agenda, we have a deep partnership, the format of which is quite comprehensive. We work together on international platforms, within the framework of integration processes, within the Eurasian Economic Union and the CSTO: all these are on the agenda of our dialogue.

Under any other circumstances, we could have talked about our allied relations for a long time, but the main focus is on the situation, which has already turned into a real threat to our entire region. What our compatriots are encountering in Artsakh today is the embodiment of an existential threat which has ripened over the decades and what we have been consistently voicing about.

We were able to achieve a certain result thanks to you efforts, Sergey Viktorovich, and thanks to the direct involvement of Russian President Vladimir Putin. We have managed to agree on a joint statement on the cessation of hostilities at the ministerial level. We highly appreciate your personal contribution, the contribution of the Russian Federation, the contribution of Russian President Vladimir Putin to the achievement of such a result.

Today we need to cease the hostilities. And Russia's role in this remains extremely important.

Unfortunately, at the moment we can not state that in practice we have a full cessation of hostilities, even now at this very minute we continue to receive information that Azerbaijan is not adhering to its obligations of the cessation of hostilities.

In this regard, I would like to highlight the importance of introducing verification mechanisms that will give an opportunity to establish and maintain this regime.

Sergey Viktorovich, I am sure that today we will have a long, effective and good conversation. We have a rather extensive agenda".

In the context of the developments in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone, Minister Mnatsakanyan touched upon in details Azerbaijan’s aggression against Artsakh, carried out with the support of Turkey and the involvement of foreign terrorist fighters, during which the civilian population and infrastructure of Artsakh are being deliberately targeted.

The Foreign Ministers exchanged views on a wide range of issues related to the Armenian-Russian allied relations agenda. In this regard, Minister Mnatsakanyan stressed: “The Armenian-Russian relations are not limited to high-level visits and meetings, but also include direct contacts, which are now extremely important in this situation.”

Both sides commended the high level of cooperation between the two countries within the framework of international and regional organizations.

At the end of the meeting, the Foreign Ministers gave a joint press conference.