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This time the regular meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Committee on Cooperation is dedicated to the 30^th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia and the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, as well as the 25^th anniversary of the treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance. The Armenian and the Russian parliamentarians held the 34^th meeting of the Committee in Stepanavan on April 22.

The Chair of the Committee on Defense and Security of the RF FA Federation Council Viktor Bondarev has highly appreciated the cooperation between the two countries, underlining that Armenia is the strategic ally of Russia. He has highlighted the establishment of stability in the region, noting that one of the priorities of Russia is the settlement of the situation created in the Nagorno Karabakh through peaceful means. Viktor Bondarev touched upon the inter-parliamentary favourable cooperation and initiatives aimed at boosting the ties in a number of spheres.

The RA NA Vice President, the Co-Chair of the Inter-Parliamentary Committee on the Armenian-Russian Cooperation Hakob Arshakyan in his turn emphasized the Russian peacekeepers’ role in preserving peace in the Nagorno Karabakh.

In his welcoming speech he has stated that the holding of the Committee meetings in different regions and cities of Armenia and Russia allows getting acquainted with the possibilities of the regions on the spot and predetermining the concrete steps of cooperation.

“The ally and the partnership relations of our countries are based on centuries-old traditions of friendship, fraternal close ties, trust and mutual support, and they comply with our peoples’ interests. I am glad to document that today the inter-state relations of the two states are at political high level, and they continue to be strengthened in all directions,” the Deputy Speaker of Parliament said.

Hakob Arshakyan referred to the official visit of the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan to the Russian Federation, during which the head of the states discussed a wide scope of bilateral cooperation issues, as well as issues regarding the efforts aimed at strengthening stability in the region and the establishment of long-term peace and security.

The NA Vice President has related to the collaboration on the international platforms, noting that there is effective cooperation with the Russian counterparts within the framework of the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly and in other parliamentary structures.

Speaking about the agenda items of today’s meeting, Hakob Arshakyan expressed conviction that new vectors of effective and constructive cooperation would ne predetermined. “We should consistently develop the existing achievements and aspire more significant results,” he underscored.

Within the framework of the agenda items, the strengthening of the Armenian-Russian inter-parliamentary cooperation was touched upon. The speakers highly appreciated the existing level of the political dialogue.

Regarding the bilateral relations, the members of the Inter-Parliamentary Committee, the deputies of the Civil Contract Faction Vladimir Vardanyan and Gurgen Arsenyan emphasized the implementation of the joint programmes and the steps aimed at making more effective the traditional cooperation in different spheres. They talked about the issues of legislative approximation, activation of regional cooperation, stressed the necessity of expanding the cooperation within the framework of the IPA CIS and the CSTO PA. Vladimir Vardanyan raised the issue of the possibility of the creation of the Group within the framework of the Committee, which will discuss the bilateral agenda problems in the profile directions.

The deputy of the Civil Contract Faction Tsovinar Vardanyan spoke about the bilateral ties and programmes in the spheres of economy, energy and newest technologies. She highlighted the creation of the joint organizations, referred to the volumes of the goods turnover, noting that the cooperation within the framework of the EAEU promoted the expansion of the ties in the sphere of economy.

Speaking about the volumes of the goods turnover, the deputy of the Armenia Faction Andranik Tevanyan has underlined that Russia is in the first place among the economic partners of Armenia. The deputy also related to the cooperation on the international different platforms, the cooperation in the military sphere and the Nagotno Karabakh conflict.

From the Russian side Vladimir Jabarov, Natalia Kosikhina and Oleg Matveychev touched upon the vision of the development of bilateral relations within the framework of the theme.

The next agenda item was the holding of joint celebrations dedicated to the 30^th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Armenia. Issues related to bilateral programmes, perspectives of humanitarian cooperation, support for the Russian language in our country and the spread of the Armenian language in Russia were discussed. The Committee member Aleksey Sandikov spoke about holding cultural events. He emphasized the restoration of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker Church in Lori region, which was carried out at the expense of state funds. The RA Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Zhanna Andreasyan presented the steps taken in the sphere. The implementation of the educational exchange programmes and inter-university cooperation was considered necessary.

Issues regarding the activities of the Expert Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Committee were discussed. The composition of the Council was approved, and the Co-Chairs were appointed.

It was decided to hold the 35^th meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Committee in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, in July this year.

Hakob Arshakyan and Viktor Bondarev summed up the work of the meeting of the Committee.

The Chair of the Committee on Defense and Security of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation Viktor Bondarev thanked the Armenian side and personally Hakob Arshakyan for organizing the meeting at a high level and for the warm reception.

As the NA Vice President Hakob Arshakyan has assessed, the results of the meetting were satisfactory, the discussions were held in a constructive atmosphere. According to him, a clear agreement was reached to expand cooperation in various fields and implement programmes.