Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan held a telephone conversation on Monday with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, the second such conversation between the two in the past three days.
According to a readout of the call publicized by Armenia’s foreign ministry, the two top diplomats discussed issues of bilateral cooperation, “emphasizing the importance of political dialogue between the two countries at various levels.”
Mirzoyan and Lavrov “touched upon the outcomes of the political consultations held last week between the two ministries and exchanged views on upcoming plans,” the statement said.
The Armenian foreign ministry statement was referring to a meeting on Thursday between Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin and his Armenian counterpart Mnatsakan Safaryan held in Moscow—the first Russian-Armenian diplomatic “consultations” in four years.
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, they engaged in a “frank and objective exchange of views on the entire spectrum of issues of bilateral relations.” They also discussed “the situation in the South Caucasus and prospects for its development,” read a ministry statement.
In its turn, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said the two men discussed “topical issues of bilateral, regional and global agenda,” as well as “the schedule and content of upcoming interstate contacts.” It also cited Lavrov as praising progress made in Armenian-Azerbaijani talks on a bilateral peace treaty.
Mirzoyan had called Lavrov on Friday on the Russian official’s 75th birthday.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan held a telephone conversation with President Vladimir Putin of Russia, telling him that he will visit Moscow on May 9 to attend the 80th anniversary celebrations of victory day.
Several Armenian media outlets reported that Pashinyan had ordered Armenian state agencies to reactivate contacts with relevant Russian authorities in an effort to improve Yerevan’s strained relations with Russia.
The Kremlin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, reacted positively to those reports, saying that relations between Armenia and Russia could never be interrupted as “Armenia is a friendly country to us.”
“And, of course, we are more than satisfied with such reciprocal attitude of the Armenian side to the prospects of our bilateral relations and are ready to develop them in every way,” Peskov added, according to the TASS news agency.
