ACCORDING TO THE RUSSIAN PAPER, SOME FORCES PROVOKE ‘MUTUAL TEARING AWAY’ OF RUSSIA AND ARMENIA

22.08.2000, MEDIAMAX, YEREVAN. During the unofficial summit of the leaders of CIS states in Yalta on August 18 Russian President Vladimir Putin met with all the presidents who had arrived in the Crimea but Robert Kocharian, the leader of Armenia, the only military-political ally of Russia in Transcaucasian region, writes today Russian “Nezavisimaya Gazeta” paper.
Quoting reliable sources, “NG” reports that preliminarily the Armenian side had officially addressed to Moscow to organize such a meeting. It’s also apparent that the fact of absence of Putin-Kocharian negotiations will be officially explained during the upcoming visit of the president of Armenia to Russia. The fact that Armenian-Russian relations are not at their best at present, will be denied both by Yerevan and Moscow.
“The veracity will again remain behind the curtain, but the truth about who and with what purposes provokes today the mutual tearing away of strategic allies, contradicting both Armenian and Russian interests, is veiled by traditional statements about the centuries-long character of the Armenian-Russian friendship”, writes the paper. -0-