AGES-LONG FRIENDSHIP UNDERLIES ARMENIA-RUSSIA RELATIONS - ARMENIAN LEADER
ITAR-TASS, Russia
May 13, 2014 Tuesday 10:12 PM GMT+4
YEREVAN May 13
- Ages-long friendship underlies the warm relations between Russia
and Armenia, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said Tuesday.
"We have been friends for some 250 years. We lived a very long time
in one state, one statehood, we are connected by culture, by economic
relations," Sargsyan said at a press conference in Yerevan.
"I think Armenia's desire to join the Customs Union [of Russia,
Belarus and Kazakhstan] was not strange for anyone as economic
interconnectedness is today at a very high level. Besides, we have a
bilateral friendship treaty with Russia, we are in the same security
system," he said.
"The Customs Union also gives certain benefits to member countries,
for example, the opportunity to import energy carriers to Armenia
at competitive prices, which makes it possible to have competitive
goods in our restricted conditions," Sargsyan said.
The Armenian leader said joining the Customs Union does not mean
stopping relations with the European Union.
"We will keep deepening relations with the EU as these relations
are an opportunity to not only return to our roots, but to implement
reforms faster in our country," he said.
Armenian Economy Minister Vagram Avanesyan said in April that the
treaty on his country's admission to the Customs Union will be signed
in late May or June.
ITAR-TASS, Russia
May 13, 2014 Tuesday 10:12 PM GMT+4
YEREVAN May 13
- Ages-long friendship underlies the warm relations between Russia
and Armenia, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said Tuesday.
"We have been friends for some 250 years. We lived a very long time
in one state, one statehood, we are connected by culture, by economic
relations," Sargsyan said at a press conference in Yerevan.
"I think Armenia's desire to join the Customs Union [of Russia,
Belarus and Kazakhstan] was not strange for anyone as economic
interconnectedness is today at a very high level. Besides, we have a
bilateral friendship treaty with Russia, we are in the same security
system," he said.
"The Customs Union also gives certain benefits to member countries,
for example, the opportunity to import energy carriers to Armenia
at competitive prices, which makes it possible to have competitive
goods in our restricted conditions," Sargsyan said.
The Armenian leader said joining the Customs Union does not mean
stopping relations with the European Union.
"We will keep deepening relations with the EU as these relations
are an opportunity to not only return to our roots, but to implement
reforms faster in our country," he said.
Armenian Economy Minister Vagram Avanesyan said in April that the
treaty on his country's admission to the Customs Union will be signed
in late May or June.