A private meeting between the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin took place in St. Petersburg.

In his speech, the President of the Russian Federation noted: “Dear Nikol Vovayevich, I would like to greet you once again and thank you for participating in these events organized within the framework of the EAEU and the CIS.

Yesterday and today we already exchanged assessments of our work. In general, in my opinion, everything went very well.

I hope the atmosphere was good. But most importantly, our teams worked hard in all directions, prepared good documents, everything has been signed, everything is moving forward.

As for bilateral relations, they are developing. Our trade turnover has been regularized, we talked about it yesterday. If in 2024 it exceeded 11 billion, then in the first nine months of this year it amounted to 4.5 billion. This is also a good indicator, and gives us reason to believe that in the near future we will increase it.

We also have good plans, we have already discussed energy, including nuclear energy. We will not go into details now, but there is an opportunity to discuss, to talk, as well as about the logistics sector.

During our previous meeting, you raised various issues that we can work on together, including the restoration of old routes and the creation of new routes that will open the borders of Armenia. So, in general, everything is going well. Of course, there are other issues that we will discuss now.

I am very glad to see you. Thank you for being here."

In turn, Prime Minister Pashinyan noted: "Thank you very much, Vladimir Vladimirovich, for the invitation.

I think we spent very eventful two days together in the EAEU and CIS formats. Of course, very important decisions were made. And now, this is the logical end of my working visit to St. Petersburg.

Of course, very important and, fortunately, positive developments are taking place in our region. And I would like to thank you for your support for the peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan. And, as we said in our phone conversation after August 8, the achieved peace will open up new opportunities for the further development of bilateral relations between Armenia and Russia.

And this has already happened, because trains from Russia are already going to Armenia through the territory of Azerbaijan, which, I think, is a truly historic event. And, as you have already mentioned, new opportunities are opening up. The moment has come for the restoration of some other railway sections in our country.

I am referring, in particular, to the Ijevan, Yeraskh and Akhurik sections. These are the railways that connect Armenia with Azerbaijan, the main part of Azerbaijan with Nakhichevan and Türkiye, since a fairly active political process is underway. I cannot say that there are already political decisions on the reopening of these railways. But I think that the situation has matured to the point that it is necessary to carry out preparatory work.

We are also currently conducting very constructive bilateral negotiations with the United States on the implementation and construction of the TRIPP project. These are truly significant and meaningful changes for our region. There are also many nuances here that relate to our bilateral relations with Russia.

And today, I think, is a very good opportunity to discuss all these issues.

Thank you again for the invitation, the wonderful program and atmosphere, and the very high level of organization of working and cultural events.

Thank you very much."