Russia helped solve problems caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Nagorno-Karabakh in a difficult moment for Armenia, Acting Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Thursday, according to the Armenian government's press service.
"In a difficult moment, the Russian Federation gave us hand and helped us solve the problems caused by the pandemic and aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh. Thanks to the Russian Federation's efforts, it was possible to stop the military actions and achieve a significant de-escalation in our region. The presence of Russian peacekeepers is a solid guarantee of Nagorno-Karabakh's security. I especially want to point out the role of the Russian President [Vladimir Putin] in achieving peace in the region," he said.
Armenia is ready to make every effort to ensure dialogue in the trilateral format with Russia and Azerbaijan, Pashinyan stressed. "I would like to assure you that Armenia will continue to take all measures to implement the agreements reached in the trilateral statements of November 9, 2020, and January 11 [2021]. We are also ready to make every effort to ensure a constructive dialogue between the parties in the trilateral format," Pashinyan noted.
"I would like to emphasize our position on the need to resume the peace process in order to achieve a final settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict based on the principles proposed by the [OSCE Minsk Group] co-chairs," he also noted.
On November 9, 2020, a trilateral statement was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Pashinyan, which achieved a complete cessation of hostilities in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone. According to the document, the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides stopped at the occupied positions, a number of areas came under Baku's control and Russian peacekeepers were deployed along the line of contact and the Lachin corridor. According to the eighth point of the statement, an all-for-all exchange of prisoners is envisaged. After the deployment of peacekeepers, the situation stabilized and tens of thousands of Karabakh residents, who had left their homes during the hostilities, returned with the support of the peacekeeping contingent.
In April, the first batch of the Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine was delivered to Armenia, and later the sides agreed that Yerevan would buy 1 million doses of the preparation. Pashinyan stressed that the country has great confidence in Sputnik V. Armenia also stated that they are negotiating with Russia to establish the production of the Russian medicine in the territory of the republic with the prospect of producing up to 100,000 doses per month.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: official website of the Prime Minister of Armenia
Based on materials from TASS