YEREVAN. - The delegation led by speaker Alen Simonyan of the National Assembly (NA) of Armenia, and which is in Russia on an official visit, on Monday met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the NA informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

The Russian FM lauded the Armenian-Russian strategic and partnership relations, considering the latter’s evidence also the fact that the new NA speaker has paid his first official visit in this capacity to Russia. Simonyan, in turn, congratulated the Russian people on their recent parliamentary elections.

The parties discussed in detail the situation in the region, reflecting also on the need for the establishment of lasting peace and the elimination of obstacles to its implementation. In this context, the issue of return of all remaining Armenian prisoners of war and civilians in Azerbaijan was particularly highlighted. Reference was also made to Armenian-Russian cooperation in political, economic, cultural, humanitarian, and some other spheres.

During the talk, special emphasis was placed on the role of parliaments in the development and strengthening of bilateral cooperation. In addition, both sides highlighted their effective cooperation within the framework of the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly and the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly—also taking into account the respective priorities of the Armenian chairmanship.

At the end of the meeting, NA President Alen Simonyan thanked Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for his considerable contribution to the development of Armenian-Russian cooperation.