Armenian President: We fully support Russia’s position on Syria
Photo: The Kremlin
During a visit to Moscow on Thursday, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan told Russian President Vladimir Putin that Armenia fully supports Russia’s position on Syria, as stated on the Kremlin’s website.
“I loudly declare that we firmly support Russia's position on the Syrian issue. And of course, we welcome the agreement which you have reached with the United States, the cessation of hostilities; this may be the key to a political solution of the issue,” Sargsyan told Putin.
The two presidents discussed several other issues, including economic and military cooperation, the so-called Eurasian Economic Union, and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Putin made a point to affirm the close relation between the Kremlin and Yerevan.
“There is no need to describe our bilateral interstate relations: indeed, this is a strategic partnership. I am very pleased to state this and note that our relations are developing successfully,” Putin stated.
The Armenian President agreed, saying “we have both political and economic, and military-technical and humanitarian spheres of mutual understanding and these relations are developing very well.”
Recently, Moscow and Yerevan reached an agreement that will provide Armenia with $200 million to purchase Russian arms.
Armenia is home to two Russian military bases and 4,000-5,000 Russian servicemen. As previously reported, Armenia and Russia recently signed an agreement on the creation of a Joint Regional Air Defense System in the Caucasian Collective Security Region.
Armenia shares a 268 kilometer (167 mile) border with Turkey, and many believe that Russia’s renewed interest in Armenian security is a direct response to Turkey’s downing of a Russian Su-24 bomber along the Turkish-Syrian border on November 24th of last year, which has led to a souring of relations between Moscow and Ankara.