YEREVAN. – The President of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, on Friday received Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who is in capital city Yerevan to attend a regular session of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council.

The Presidential Press Office informed Armenian News-NEWS.am that, first, Sargsyan expressed the hope that this meeting will be marked by its effectiveness.

“A few days ago, I returned from Vienna where, at the initiative of the foreign ministers of the OSCE [i.e. the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe] Minsk Group Co-Chair countries [i.e. Russia, US, and France], we discussed the [current] situation [following Azerbaijan’s military aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh in early April], and the ways out of this situation,” the Armenian President continued. “We [i.e. the Armenian side] certainly we will do everything on our part so that these violations are no more. And I hope the foreign ministers of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries will consistently implement decisions which we jointly adopted.”

Medvedev, in turn, stressed that this is his second meeting with the President of Armenia in a month, and noted that this describes the level of Armenia-Russia relations.

“My last visit [to Armenia] took place during very difficult conditions,” the Russian PM added. “Nonetheless, we, in Russia, were very tensely following the development of events [in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone]; we were helping as much as possible to settle the situation.

“It is important that the ceasefire regime that was achieved would be maintained. In this context, we certainly fully welcome your meeting with the president of Azerbaijan, which took place in Vienna, as well as the efforts within the framework of the Minsk Group, which are launched toward maintaining dialogue, continuing contacts, and preventing incidents of such nature in the future.

“Russia always has helped and will help in the settlement of this difficult conflict.”