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On July 11, the 35^th meeting of the Interparliamentary Commission on Cooperation between the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia and the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation chaired by the RF FA Deputy Speaker Yuri Vorobyov and the RA NA Vice President Hakob Arshakyan was held in Krasnoyarsk.

In his welcoming speech, Hakob Arshakyan emphasized the historical character and special significance of traditional friendly relations between Armenia and Russia, based on centuries-old friendship and cooperation.

According to the NA Vice President, the Armenian-Russian parliamentary cooperation contributes to the development of allied relations between the two countries.

“The effective work of the Interparliamentary Commission on Cooperation between the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia and the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation gives a special tone to the bilateral relations. Our Commission expands its activity year by year, becoming one of the most important factors of parliamentary cooperation,” Hakob Arshakyan stressed.

According to him, the economic ties between Armenia and Russia continue to remain traditionally strong, despite the difficulties and challenges of the modern world. “Russia ranks first in the list of trade partners of Armenia,” the NA Vice President stated.

The NA Vice President referred to the issue of the Upper Lars checkpoint. He noted that it is the only land checkpoint on the Russian-Georgian border that connects our countries. “Unfortunately, we again faced the problem of crossing the checkpoint during the last few months. The damage faced by producers and transporters during the harvest season was more tangible,” he said. Hakob Arshakyan underlined that the RA National Assembly took the initiative to take the issue under parliamentary control and contribute to the solution of this problem. He expressed hope that the problem of queues of heavy vehicles will be resolved in the long term through the efforts of the parliamentarians.

“We intend to give new impetus to the work of the Interparliamentary Commission to enrich the bilateral agenda with new ideas and proposals related to the deepening of cooperation in bilateral and multilateral formats,” he noted.

The NA Vice President referred to the successful cooperation with Russian partners on many international platforms: the CIS IPA, the CSTO PA, the Black Sea Economic Cooperation PA, as well as the International Assembly on Orthodoxy. “The positions of our countries on fundamental international issues are close or coincide. Russia is one of the most important strategic partners of Armenia in the international arena,” Hakob Arshakyan stressed.

Concluding the speech, the NA Vice President assured that the work of the Commission will be effective and its results will strengthen the strategic partnership and cooperation between Armenia and Russia.

The RF FA Deputy Speaker Yuri Vorobyov referred to the role of the Armenian Diaspora in Russia, the perspectives for the development of economic and humanitarian ties between the two countries. According to him, about three million Armenians who live in Russia contribute to the social life and economic progress of the country. Yuri Vorobyov added that Russia’s share in Armenia’s foreign trade balance is also large – during the past year, the bilateral trade turnover exceeded 2.5 billion USD, increasing by almost 13%.

The participants of the meeting discussed the issues related to the development of Armenian-Russian economic cooperation, as well as the role of the Diaspora in the development of economic, cultural and educational bilateral ties. Reference was made to the cooperation between Armenia and Russia within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union, including the development of information technologies and the acceleration of digitization.

The sides agreed to continue the work in the development of possible mechanisms of support for the Armenian and Russian communities, to use the resources to promote cultural cooperation. The study of the Russian language in Armenia and the Armenian language in Russia, and the activation of business contacts have been highlighted. The sides will support the initiative of creating a common digital platform for science and education, which is for the accelerated and long-term development of human and technological potential.

The 36^th meeting of the Interparliamentary Commission on Armenian-Russian Cooperation will be held in Tsaghkadzor, Armenia at the suggestion of Hakob Arshakyan.