YEREVAN (Armenpress)–The participants of the Moscow seminar on "Russia-Armenia relations in the context of Russia’s policy in Caucasus" came to the conclusion that Russia is the number one strategic partner for Armenia.
The updated agreement on friendship–cooperation and mutual assistance between the two states is already worked out and will be signed during Ter-Petrosyan’s visit to Moscow.
According to Deputy Chief of Russian Foreign Ministry Department for CIS States Vitali Litvinov–prospects for military cooperation are also included in the document as a compliment to the agreement on Russian Military Bases in Armenia.
The updated agreement–if ratified by the parliament of the two states–will replace the Armenian-Russian agreement on friendship from 1992–which was not ratified and was in force without being officially voted into effect.
Russia is Armenia’s main strategic partner–but with regards to the economic field–Russia’still yields to Iran–Armenia’s basic economic partner. In this regard–representative of Russian Strategic Research Institute Yuri Khromov stressed the necessity for establishing Armenian-Russian financial-industrial groups.
The prospect for Armenia’s membership with the Russia-Belarus Union was also discussed during the seminar. The participants came to the conclusion that despite thelong-time friendship between the two nations–the necessary conditions for this unification do not yet exist.
According to Vsevolod Oleandrov–head of Russian state delegation for negotiations with Armenia–107 agreemen’s are reached by the two states in all the fields of cooperation. But factors like Armenia’s blockade by Turkey impede the collaboration.
In this respect–Oleandrov stressed the importance of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement and raising of the blockade. "Otherwise–Armenia-Russian political relations are cloudless," he said.