The presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan will discuss the issue of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict during the talks in Moscow.
In addition, they plan to discuss key issues of bilateral cooperation in trade, investment, energy and humanitarian spheres, Peskov pointed out.
The deputy dean of the Faculty of Global Economics and International Affairs of the Higher School of Economics of the National Research University, Andrei Suzdaltsev, said in an interview with a correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza that the issue of energy supply to the country will be one of the key themes of the upcoming talks. "As you remember, this issue has been raised in the last year, when riots over rising electricity rates started. In addition, the issues of logistics and transit are unresolved: rail and pipeline access to Armenia is a very serious problem," he reminded .
Also, according to him, Russian investments in Armenia will be discussed. "The Republic needs Russian investments in order somehow to solve the problem of unemployment and to create new jobs. The main theme is Armenia's role in the Eurasian integration project. Now it is entering the EEU at the level of the Customs Union, which is a unique option, because the territory of the Eurasian Union is separated from Armenian territory," Andrew Suzdaltsev expressed confidence.
The Director of the Armenian branch of the CIS Institute, Alexander Makarov, in his turn, agreed that Serzh Sargsyan arrived in Moscow to discuss primarily economic issues. "This applies to such areas as energy, transport policy and industrial cooperation – that is, the whole package which is of mutual interest to our two countries," he said.
The presidents will also discuss interaction with international organizations. "It's not just about the participation of Armenia in the CSTO, but also about its presence in the EEU. The fact is that after discussions on Armenia's participation in the EEU, the situation in Russia and other participants of the project changed after the tightening of the Ukrainian crisis, the introduction of anti-Russian sanctions and falling energy prices. Accordingly, Armenia's expectations on its Eurasian integration met with very different realities. The question is, in which direction will the organization move and what are the possible new priorities for the participants of this project?" Alexander Makarov said.
Of course, the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement "will be in the center of attention, because Russia is not only an ally and strategic partner of Armenia, it also has strategic relations with Azerbaijan, and it is one of the Minsk Group co-chairs," the expert stressed, adding that we also should expect a discussion of the situation in the Middle East.
