MOSCOW. - President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan made a statement in front of media after the meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Wednesday.

The press-service of the Armenian President has published the full text of the aforementioned statement:

“Ladies and gentlemen,

I would first of all like to thank the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin for the warm reception.

The high-level active political dialogue is in line with the level of relations between our countries. Those relations include all the spheres of our states’ vital activity, starting from the ally cooperation in direction of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) to economic integration in the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union, as well as the close cooperation in the humanitarian field. The ties between our regions are expanding, and the already regular Armenian-Russian interregional conferences, as well as the direct ties between the subjects of the Russian Federation and the provinces of the Republic of Armenia (RA), play a great role here.

We highly appreciate the role of Russia in the world, and specifically in our region, where various processes impacting the stability and security are simultaneously taking place. Armenia closely watched the intensive foreign political communications of the Russian President during the last week, which is fully understandable, considering that Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkey are Armenia’s neighboring countries. I thank the Russian President for the thorough information provided regarding those meetings. I am sure that Armenia only benefits from the activation of Russia’s role in our region.

We also discussed today the significant success of commodity turnover between Armenia and Russia. This is a direct answer to the pessimists, who predicted that Armenia’s accession to the Eurasian Economic Union will be of no advantage to Armenia. It is enough to mention that despite all the international difficulties and obstacles, our commodity turnover has significantly increased, while the export from Armenia to Russia grew 90 percent during the first six months of the current year, thus reaching its historical peak during a quarter. I am sure that we will be able to maintain and develop this dynamics, since the trade and economic potential between our countries is not fully used even nowadays.

Apparently, the key subject of our today’s talks was the peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, as well as the process of implementing the arrangement reached during the Vienna and St. Petersburg summits. This first of all includes unconditional implementation of the tripartite ceasefire agreements of 1994-1995, establishment of investigation mechanisms and the expansion of the office of the Personal Representative to the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office.

I once again thank the Russian President for the efforts which Russia -- in cooperation with the U.S. and France -- exerts as an OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair towards the peaceful settlement of the issue, as well as the great personal contribution of President Putin to this process. As early as two years ago, we thoroughly discussed the main principles and positions of solving this complex issue in Sochi. These principles remain unchanged. It is impossible to solve such a conflict by referring to the elimination of the consequences and not the causes. The essence of the Karabakh issue is the Karabakh people’s struggle for self-determination. This is the inalienable right of all peoples. To solve the issue is to respect and ensure that right. We thoroughly talked about this very topic with the President of the Russian Federation.

The peace process and talks round such a sensitive topic are never easy to carry out. All the attempts, which may result in disturbing the balance of forces and bringing about winners and losers, are doomed to failure and new tension. Everyone should benefit from realistic, precise and applicable decisions, based on mutual respect and confidence, but not hatred and xenophobia.

Vladimir Vladimirovich, the topics of peace and solidarity are especially timely in the days of Olympics. We will once again wish success to the Russian and Armenian teams. We wish to rejoice the success achieved by your and our athletes. We are very proud that the Russian athletes of Armenian descent have achieved very good results. A few months ago a school named after the world skating legend Irina Rodnina opened in Yerevan. I am confident that the joint victories and achievements in sports fully reflect the mutual feelings of our peoples. As it goes, a healthy mind in a healthy body.”