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NEW LEVEL: LEADERS OF ARMENIA AND RUSSIA STRENGTHEN SPHERES OF COOPERATION DURING STATE VISITS
By Aris Ghazinyan
ArmeniaNow
27.10.11 | 15:22
Photo: www.president.am
Despite the fact that diplomatic relations between Yerevan and Moscow
were established in 1992 and were immediately defined as "strategic",
it took twenty years for the "time to come" for state, rather than
official, visits. Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan paid his first
state visit to Russia October 23-25.
During the presidency of Boris Yeltsin and Levon Ter-Petrosyan, in
their respective countries, the first important military-strategic
agreements were signed, and it was then that the decision was made
on the status of Russian frontier troops deployed in Armenia and
that of the Russian military base N 102 functioning in Gyumri. During
Vladimir Putin's and Robert Kocharyan's term in the office, more than
160 interstate, intergovernmental and interdepartmental agreements
were signed.
Nonetheless it is during the tenure of both countries' third presidents
- Dmitry Medvedev and Serzh Sargsyan - that the time for state visits
came. The Armenian president put a special emphasis on this very
circumstance during the joint press-conference with Medvedev in Moscow.
"This is the first state visit in the history of relations between
our countries. It means that we have crossed the threshold of
good-neighborly relations and are now building our relations in the
spirit of strategic partnership, ally relations," he said.
Does this statement mean that all former developments in the
Armenian-Russian relations had been purely "good-neighborly" but not
"strategic"? Or, it is after all, just a unique form of PR?
In any case state visits have happened only since August last year
when the Russian president paid his first state visit to Armenia,
and now Serzh Sargsyan made a similar visit to Russia.
In this connection the Armenian president said in Moscow: "Both of
our state visits made within a little more than a year, demonstrate
the positive charge that's characteristic of only congenial countries
that build their relations in the spirit of true allies."
The military-strategic component of the bilateral relations was more
obvious during the "Yerevan part" of the state visits. It was during
Medvedev's visit in August of 2010 that the protocol on the extension
of Russian military base's deployment term in Armenia (till 2046)
was signed.
The Moscow part was more about potential economic and cultural
cooperation. And, despite Sargsyan's statement that "57 percent of
all foreign investments in Armenia in 2011 has been from Russia",
the sides have reached an understanding of the importance of raising
the bar of economic cooperation to the level of the military-strategic
one. It is, first of all, about energy projects.
In this connection the Russian president stated: "Russian companies
provide steady gas supply to Armenia, they are very active in the
electric energy sphere. The fifth block of Hrazdan Thermal Power
Plant will soon be put to operation, and I think that will become
another large-scale event in terms of our investment cooperation."
Medvedev specifically stressed the nuclear field of cooperation:
"It is an important direction, that requires major investment. We are
discussing that project and, I hope, will arrive at the most optimal
outline for developing cooperation in the atomic energy field."
The Russian president's statement echoed another statement made at
the same time by Nokolay Spassky, Deputy Director General of Russian
State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom, who said that: "Russia is
interested in the construction of the new power-generating block
of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant." According to him, Russia is
considering that project "as a priority and is ready to take part in
the construction of the new nuclear power unit".
It is a highly important statement as, after the Van earthquake
Turkish and Azeri mass media once again raised politicized clamor
over the integrity of a nuclear power plant operating in a seismically
dangerous region. Some news outlets released information that Russia
might withdraw from the project.
Metsamor NPP's exploitation term expires in 2016. By then, according
to the Armenian-Russian agreement, a new energy block will be completed
to replace the current one.
Hence, the Armenian president's first state visit was meant to
finalize the projects amassed over the previous years and affirm
the irreversibility of the Armenian-Russian strategic partnership,
whether "state" or "official".
By Aris Ghazinyan
ArmeniaNow
27.10.11 | 15:22
Photo: www.president.am
Despite the fact that diplomatic relations between Yerevan and Moscow
were established in 1992 and were immediately defined as "strategic",
it took twenty years for the "time to come" for state, rather than
official, visits. Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan paid his first
state visit to Russia October 23-25.
During the presidency of Boris Yeltsin and Levon Ter-Petrosyan, in
their respective countries, the first important military-strategic
agreements were signed, and it was then that the decision was made
on the status of Russian frontier troops deployed in Armenia and
that of the Russian military base N 102 functioning in Gyumri. During
Vladimir Putin's and Robert Kocharyan's term in the office, more than
160 interstate, intergovernmental and interdepartmental agreements
were signed.
Nonetheless it is during the tenure of both countries' third presidents
- Dmitry Medvedev and Serzh Sargsyan - that the time for state visits
came. The Armenian president put a special emphasis on this very
circumstance during the joint press-conference with Medvedev in Moscow.
"This is the first state visit in the history of relations between
our countries. It means that we have crossed the threshold of
good-neighborly relations and are now building our relations in the
spirit of strategic partnership, ally relations," he said.
Does this statement mean that all former developments in the
Armenian-Russian relations had been purely "good-neighborly" but not
"strategic"? Or, it is after all, just a unique form of PR?
In any case state visits have happened only since August last year
when the Russian president paid his first state visit to Armenia,
and now Serzh Sargsyan made a similar visit to Russia.
In this connection the Armenian president said in Moscow: "Both of
our state visits made within a little more than a year, demonstrate
the positive charge that's characteristic of only congenial countries
that build their relations in the spirit of true allies."
The military-strategic component of the bilateral relations was more
obvious during the "Yerevan part" of the state visits. It was during
Medvedev's visit in August of 2010 that the protocol on the extension
of Russian military base's deployment term in Armenia (till 2046)
was signed.
The Moscow part was more about potential economic and cultural
cooperation. And, despite Sargsyan's statement that "57 percent of
all foreign investments in Armenia in 2011 has been from Russia",
the sides have reached an understanding of the importance of raising
the bar of economic cooperation to the level of the military-strategic
one. It is, first of all, about energy projects.
In this connection the Russian president stated: "Russian companies
provide steady gas supply to Armenia, they are very active in the
electric energy sphere. The fifth block of Hrazdan Thermal Power
Plant will soon be put to operation, and I think that will become
another large-scale event in terms of our investment cooperation."
Medvedev specifically stressed the nuclear field of cooperation:
"It is an important direction, that requires major investment. We are
discussing that project and, I hope, will arrive at the most optimal
outline for developing cooperation in the atomic energy field."
The Russian president's statement echoed another statement made at
the same time by Nokolay Spassky, Deputy Director General of Russian
State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom, who said that: "Russia is
interested in the construction of the new power-generating block
of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant." According to him, Russia is
considering that project "as a priority and is ready to take part in
the construction of the new nuclear power unit".
It is a highly important statement as, after the Van earthquake
Turkish and Azeri mass media once again raised politicized clamor
over the integrity of a nuclear power plant operating in a seismically
dangerous region. Some news outlets released information that Russia
might withdraw from the project.
Metsamor NPP's exploitation term expires in 2016. By then, according
to the Armenian-Russian agreement, a new energy block will be completed
to replace the current one.
Hence, the Armenian president's first state visit was meant to
finalize the projects amassed over the previous years and affirm
the irreversibility of the Armenian-Russian strategic partnership,
whether "state" or "official".