The meeting of President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and acting Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan kicked off in Moscow.

Opening the meeting, Putin congratulated Pashinyan on his political party’s victory in the snap parliamentary elections.

“I would like to congratulate you on the results of the elections once again. I believe this is important for everyone, and first and foremost, for Armenia and the Armenian people,” Putin said.

“The difficult, sharp and very sensitive problems can only be solved in case there is an opportunity to work effectively, and for this, the most important thing is the people’s trust. You have that trust, and this is very important, and actually the most important. During our working lunch today, I hope we are able to officially and unofficially talk about all the issues that we recently thoroughly discussed and the issues that require solutions,” Putin stated.

Expressing his condolences over the plane crash in Kamchutka and expressing gratitude for the congratulatory remarks, Pashinyan stated that this meeting is already the third meeting in Moscow this year and that, in his opinion, this expresses the dynamics of the relations between Russia and Armenia.

“Unfortunately, recently, there have been many security issues. The situation in our region is not too stable. Everyone knows about the efforts that you and the Russian Federation made to achieve ceasefire during the 44-day war. I must say that even though the situation is stable after the deployment of Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh, there are hotbeds of disturbance and instability from time to time. Today I would like to share with you my views on why and how this is happening. The situation on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border is still not very stable. Unfortunately, there is still a hotbed for permanent trouble here as well. I hope today we will succeed in ‘matching the timetables’ during this meeting. The issue of prisoners of war hasn’t been completely resolved, even though, fortunately, there is good news. A few days ago, 15 prisoners of war were returned to Armenia, and here, again, I would like to emphasize your role. We discussed this during our phone talks on June 24. A week later, 15 compatriots were returned to Armenia. There is a lot of good news in terms of the economy. In 2019, we discussed issues related to the operation of the South Caucasus Railway. Armenia is rapidly upgrading trains and carrying out a large investment program. This year, exports to Russia are on the rise following the year of COVID-19. I would also like to express gratitude for assisting in the delivery of Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine. Armenia has received over 10,000 doses. The situation regarding the coronavirus is quite good in Armenia. On the backdrop of this, Russian tourists are visiting Armenia,” Pashinyan said.

“The consultations of government agencies are held normally,” Putin noted.