A NEW STAGE IN ARMENIAN-RUSSIAN TIES IN 2000

26.12.2000, MEDIAMAX, YEREVAN. The Foreign Minister of Armenia Vardan Oskanian said today at a press conference in Yerevan that a new stage began in Armenian-Russian relations in 2000 – “we began to pass on to allied relations”.
The minister stressed that the main task in the Armenian-Russian relations this year was “to bring the economic ties to a political level”.
Oskanian informed that at the recent Moscow session of the Armenian-Russian inter-governmental commission an agreement was reached on joint venture of electricity in Armenia for its later export to third countries.
Minister Oskanian noted that Yerevan isn’t concerned about the fact that the president of Russia plans to visit Azerbaijan on January 9. “We are sure that the normalization of Russian-Azeri relations is carried out not at the expense of Armenian-Russian relations. Moreover, we are sure that the normal ties between Moscow and Baku will promote the stabilization of the whole region and the settlement of the Karabakh conflict,” Oskanian noted. -0-