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Sarkisian, Putin Discuss Strategic Ties
Presidnets Sarkisian and Putin meet in the Kremlin Wednesday
MOSCOW - President Serzh Sarkisian on Wednesday met with his Russian
counterpart Vladimir Putin, following a session of the Collective
Treaty Security Organization, which focused on the proposed
Russian-led customs union.
According to Sarkisian press office, the two leaders discussed issues
of mutual interest in Russian-Armenian strategic relations and
possible avenues of cooperation between the two countries.
Ahead of the Sarkisian-Putin meeting a senior official in Moscow said
that the absence of a common border with Russia is not an
`insurmountable obstacle' to Armenia's accession to the customs union,
which enjoys the membership of all CSTO member-states except Armenia.
Armenia has expressed reservation in joining the union, known as the
Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEc), saying the fact that it does
not share a common border with Russia could raise problems in the long
run.
EurAsEc member-state presidents met separately in Moscow immediately
after the CSTO summit.
That meeting in turn was followed by trilateral talks between Putin
and presidents Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan and Aleksandr
Lukashenko of Belarus. Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus make up the more
tightly-knit Customs Union, which Putin hopes will eventually develop
into a larger Eurasian Union of former Soviet republics.
Armenia appears to be facing growing pressure from Moscow to join the
Customs Union. It has avoided committing itself until now, citing the
lack of common borders with any of the three member states, reported
RFE/RL.
Viktor Khristenko, the Russian head of the Eurasian Economic
Commission, the Customs Union's governing body, questioned the
official Armenian rationale in an interview with the Moscow daily
`Vedomosti' published on Wednesday, according to RFE/RL.
`Many thought [the absence of common borders] is an insurmountable
obstacle. But in my view, it's not,' Khristenko said, pointing to the
existence of Russia's Kalinigrad exclave sandwiched between Poland and
Lithuania.
`Given the developed level of communications existing today, the
Customs Union can definitely have an exclave,' he stressed.
`Of course, Armenia has very sensitive infrastructure constraints: it
has a sole transport corridor to the Customs Union passing through
Georgia. But Armenia's strategic interest has been articulated and it
boils down to its being a Eurasian country,' added the former Russian
deputy prime minister.
Khristenko discussed the matter with Armenian leader when he visited
Yerevan on December 5-6. He met Sarkisian the day after the latter's
most recent talks with Putin held on the sidelines of an informal
Commonwealth of Independent States' summit in Turkmenistan.
Putin and Sarkisian had earlier agreed to set up a joint task force
that will explore possible ways of Armenia's integration with the
Customs Union.
In that context, Khristenko spoke of unspecified `new models of
interaction that have not existed before.' He also told `Vedomosti'
that the Russian and Armenian governments are now working on trade
memorandums aimed at facilitating bilateral trade.
Russia has already signed similar memorandums with Ukraine, another
ex-Soviet state which Moscow hopes will join the Customs Union.
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich was scheduled to visit Moscow on
Tuesday for talks on trade and energy ties. Yanukovich cancelled the
trip at the last minute.
`I think that our movement forward with Armenia may be even more
intensive than with Ukraine,' declared Khristenko.
http://asbarez.com/107218/sarkisian-putin-discuss-strategic-ties/
Presidnets Sarkisian and Putin meet in the Kremlin Wednesday
MOSCOW - President Serzh Sarkisian on Wednesday met with his Russian
counterpart Vladimir Putin, following a session of the Collective
Treaty Security Organization, which focused on the proposed
Russian-led customs union.
According to Sarkisian press office, the two leaders discussed issues
of mutual interest in Russian-Armenian strategic relations and
possible avenues of cooperation between the two countries.
Ahead of the Sarkisian-Putin meeting a senior official in Moscow said
that the absence of a common border with Russia is not an
`insurmountable obstacle' to Armenia's accession to the customs union,
which enjoys the membership of all CSTO member-states except Armenia.
Armenia has expressed reservation in joining the union, known as the
Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEc), saying the fact that it does
not share a common border with Russia could raise problems in the long
run.
EurAsEc member-state presidents met separately in Moscow immediately
after the CSTO summit.
That meeting in turn was followed by trilateral talks between Putin
and presidents Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan and Aleksandr
Lukashenko of Belarus. Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus make up the more
tightly-knit Customs Union, which Putin hopes will eventually develop
into a larger Eurasian Union of former Soviet republics.
Armenia appears to be facing growing pressure from Moscow to join the
Customs Union. It has avoided committing itself until now, citing the
lack of common borders with any of the three member states, reported
RFE/RL.
Viktor Khristenko, the Russian head of the Eurasian Economic
Commission, the Customs Union's governing body, questioned the
official Armenian rationale in an interview with the Moscow daily
`Vedomosti' published on Wednesday, according to RFE/RL.
`Many thought [the absence of common borders] is an insurmountable
obstacle. But in my view, it's not,' Khristenko said, pointing to the
existence of Russia's Kalinigrad exclave sandwiched between Poland and
Lithuania.
`Given the developed level of communications existing today, the
Customs Union can definitely have an exclave,' he stressed.
`Of course, Armenia has very sensitive infrastructure constraints: it
has a sole transport corridor to the Customs Union passing through
Georgia. But Armenia's strategic interest has been articulated and it
boils down to its being a Eurasian country,' added the former Russian
deputy prime minister.
Khristenko discussed the matter with Armenian leader when he visited
Yerevan on December 5-6. He met Sarkisian the day after the latter's
most recent talks with Putin held on the sidelines of an informal
Commonwealth of Independent States' summit in Turkmenistan.
Putin and Sarkisian had earlier agreed to set up a joint task force
that will explore possible ways of Armenia's integration with the
Customs Union.
In that context, Khristenko spoke of unspecified `new models of
interaction that have not existed before.' He also told `Vedomosti'
that the Russian and Armenian governments are now working on trade
memorandums aimed at facilitating bilateral trade.
Russia has already signed similar memorandums with Ukraine, another
ex-Soviet state which Moscow hopes will join the Customs Union.
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich was scheduled to visit Moscow on
Tuesday for talks on trade and energy ties. Yanukovich cancelled the
trip at the last minute.
`I think that our movement forward with Armenia may be even more
intensive than with Ukraine,' declared Khristenko.
http://asbarez.com/107218/sarkisian-putin-discuss-strategic-ties/