Armenian Prime Minister (PM) Nikol Pashinyan met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Wednesday to discuss bilateral ties, including the situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Pashinyan’s spokesperson, Mane Gevorgyan, said in a statement prior to the meeting that both leaders will discuss “issues of strategic significance on the agenda of Armenian-Russian relations”, including the implementation of last year’s “trilateral statement”, signed between Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia to end the conflict between Baku and Yerevan.
The Pashinyan-Putin meet was announced last week as officials from both Armenia and Azerbaijan met with their Russian counterparts in Moscow on the sidelines of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Council of Foreign Ministers meeting. Following their talks on Wednesday, Pashinyan said that he was “pleased with the outcome” of his meeting with Putin. Although no agreements were signed as part of their conversation, the PM called it “productive”, as both leaders discussed “the implementation of a number of documents signed earlier”, including an agreement on a joint Armenian-Russian military grouping as well as a deal on a common air defence system.
The Armenian leader thanked Putin for his “personal contribution to the stabilising effort” in the region and noted that the “presence of Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh is the most critical stability and security factor” in the area. The PM also said that critical issues regarding “prisoners of war, hostages, and other detainees” have not been settled so far and that he expected Azerbaijan to release all Prisoners of War (POWs), as per the terms of the Trilateral Agreement.
Apart from security-related talks, both leaders also discussed cooperation between Moscow and Yerevan in the fields of trade, energy, power, transportation, and healthcare. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said earlier that “the development and unblocking of transport infrastructure” will be discussed during the meeting. Pashinyan also suggested the possibility of “constructing a new nuclear power plant in Armenia” with Russian help. Currently, Armenia’s only nuclear station is the Metsamor nuclear plant, which was activated in 1976 during the Soviet era. The officials further exchanged views about the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and Pashinyan said that his country needed a million doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine, apart from the 15,000 doses that Armenia will soon receive. To this end, Putin assured the PM that Russia plans to ramp up the production of the vaccines and hoped to “resolve” the problem.
Russia has traditionally allied with Armenia and has supported successive Armenian governments both militarily and economically. During the 2020 war with Azerbaijan, Armenia extensively used Russian weaponry and there have been reports alleging that Russian-made Iskander ballistic missiles were fired upon Azerbaijani troop positions, a claim which both Moscow and Yerevan fiercely deny.
Armenian, Russian Leaders Meet in Moscow, Discuss Russia’s Role in Nagorno-Karabakh
The meeting between PM Pashinyan and president Putin largely revolved around the strategic relations between the two countries.
April 8, 2021
Armenia PM Nikol Pashinyan met with Russian president Vladimir Putin on Wednesday SOURCE: KREMLIN