Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s opening remarks during talks with Foreign Minister of the Republic of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan, Yerevan, May 21, 2025

Mr Mirzoyan,

Friends,

It is always a pleasure to be in Yerevan.

I’m glad that, as President Putin and Prime Minister Pashinyan agreed last autumn, we resumed reciprocal visits after a brief pause. You visited us in January 2025. Today, we are enjoying your hospitality. Thank you for that.

Let me once again congratulate you in person and the entire Armenian people on our common holiday, the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory, which we are marking by holding large-scale celebrations.

We highly appreciate Prime Minister Pashinyan’s in-person attendance at the celebrations despite thinly veiled threats coming from a number of Western officials.

Speaking at the Parade, President Putin made it clear that we remember and will always remember the contribution every republic of the former Soviet Union, including the Armenian people, made to this great feat. We are grateful for the good care taken of numerous war memorials and monuments in Armenia.

We saw that major patriotic events, including the Immortal Regiment march and the Garden of Memory campaign, were held in the Republic with great enthusiasm. We are united in understanding the need to carefully preserve the truth and memory of this fateful event in our shared history.

As ever, we value our allied relations with the Republic of Armenia and deep ties between our peoples. We have laid a solid foundation in all areas of relations between our countries that needs to be used fully and wisely.

As ever, we consider security cooperation one of the most important dimensions of our alliance. We are willing to put forth our best efforts to ensuring the protection of Armenia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Agreement on the Russian military base in the Republic of Armenia and the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Russian-Armenian Humanitarian Response Centre. Russian border guards continue to serve together with their Armenian colleagues on the Armenian-Turkish and Armenian-Iranian borders.

We discussed achievements in the economy. Indeed, Russia is Armenia’s main trading partner and investor in the Armenian economy. Russia is also a reliable guarantor of Armenia’s energy and food security. These agreements remain fully effective.

I concur with your high assessment of the intergovernmental commission’s effective work. It sets the dynamics for the state and governmental entities, as well as respective businesses in Russia and Armenia.

The end-year results in 2024 were truly impressive. We need to build on them and further expand mutually beneficial cooperation.

I fully agree with you about the importance of strengthening cultural and humanitarian ties. It has always been a very dynamic area that enjoys great interest and support of the people of both our countries. Last year saw over 700 events, that is almost two cultural events per day. This trend continues this year. We look forward to hosting Armenia’s Culture Days in Russia in October.

The EAEU has become a more efficient and self-sufficient entity. As you pointed out, it demonstrates stability and effectiveness amid turmoil on the global markets.

Ramping up interaction on the CIS platform remains a relevant goal.

Speaking of various integration associations, we are interested in Armenia actively stepping up to promising processes unfolding within the SCO and BRICS.

We are deeply interested in Yerevan and Baku achieving fully normalised relations. We believe that the set of top-level trilateral agreements signed by the presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan and the Prime Minister of Armenia in 2020-2022 provides a solid foundation for making this happen. We welcome the accommodation of the text of a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan. We stand ready to assist in resolving the issues that need to be addressed in order to have this document signed properly.

You can always count on us when it comes to unlocking transport routes and economic ties, demarcating the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, and addressing all humanitarian issues arising in this context with due account taken of the interests of either side.

Speaking about the region, we see considerable potential in expanding the 3+3 regional cooperation format which represents the countries of the South Caucasus and their immediate neighbours, namely, Russia, Iran, and Türkiye. Two ministerial meetings have effectively taken place in Tehran and Istanbul. Preparations are underway for holding the third such forum. We look forward to discussing these aspects today as well.