“Since Armenia gained independence in 1991, the cornerstone of its foreign policy has been the complementarity and the desire to build partnerships both with the neighboring states and with power centers involved in the security dynamics formation of the South Caucasus,” head of the Institute for National Strategic Studies, Adviser to RA Minister of Defense Hayk Kotanjian said at the session of the Integration Club under the chairmanship of the Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Valentina Matvienko at MGIMO University
“This choice reflects the geopolitical imperatives of the efficiency of the independent Armenian state as a guarantor of the sustainable development and security of the ten-million Armenians of the Republic of Armenia, the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, and the Diaspora. Meanwhile, we should note that the complementarity in the foreign policy of Armenia does not mean equal and similar relations with all partners. The strategic ally and number one security partner for Armenia is Russia. Armenia successfully complements the bilateral security strategic alliance with Russia with the strategic partnership with her and other states within the framework of the CSTO. The key to the deep and creatively updated dialogue between Armenia and Russia is the multi-vector search for optimal integration solutions by Moscow itself that is based on the innovative interpretation of Peter the Great’s strategic guidelines for the development of both the Asian and European dimensions of the Russian statehood’s modernization,” he said.
According to Mr. Kotanjian, Armenia also keeps productive contacts with the Euro-Atlantic power centers such as the United States, NATO and the EU.
“We can expect, that the forthcoming visit of the Head of the Russian State to Armenia will help to clarify the strategic horizons of the allied cooperation between our two friendly states in the context of the security dialogue between the West and the East – so essential for guaranteeing international security and sustainable development of the people in our volatile region, as well as in Eurasia and the World at large,” he said.
