SENSATION! Velvet Revolutionary Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan Swears Oath of Fealty to Russia-Led EEC

Vladimir Putin: Mr. Pashinyan, please.

Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of Armenia: Esteemed President of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council (EEU) heads of state and participants of the meeting, I'd like to begin with a commemoration of the Great Victory Day. The Great Patriotic War was a hard challenge for the people of the EEU and many other peoples of the world. Our duty is to preserve the memory of the heroism of our veterans and share it with younger generations. We must do everything possible to ensure the security, sustainable development, and prosperity of our lands. I would also like to sincerely thank the president of Russia for his warm welcome, hospitality, and the organization of an actual summit at such a high level.

 

Esteemed heads of state, a peaceful transfer of power occurred in Armenia. I assume you're perfectly aware of that. We've already formed our new government whose program doesn't include any changes to our foreign policy. I confirm my commitment to all international obligations of the Armenian Republic including the ones within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union. We're focused on active cooperation with our EEU partners in terms of establishing free movement of goods, services, labor, and capital, as well as implementing preferential treatment on economic cooperation regulated by the Union's rules. The discourse in Armenian society regarding the EEU arises from the fact that resolving administrative issues during the transition between regulatory systems while facing various obstacles and barriers hasn't yet lived up to the expectations of business to quickly obtain the clear and tangible benefits dictated by the idea of Eurasian-integration. I assume that joint effort by the EEU nations and consistency in achieving direct results could lower the scale of such discussions. We're committed to achieving this goal. Our first priority is to increase the level of economic cooperation, focus on new, advanced technologies, provide equal opportunities for economic entities, and solve acute issues which directly influence the quality of life. After all, if our citizens can't see the obvious signs of economic activity they become hollow statistics.

Esteemed heads of state, before focusing on a couple questions of today's agenda I'd like to point out that Armenia is ready to sign all documents prepared for the council. Regarding the international activities of the EEU I'd like to say that after long discussion we consider the draft of the Observer Status Act to be calibrated to corresponding to the Union Agreement. I suggest discussing whether we should adopt other statuses of cooperation with third-party countries apart from Observer Status after the practical implementation of the Observer Status. Moreover, today we're expected to adopt the International EEU Agreements regulating contract formalization with third-party countries or other supranational unions the work of the research group, and many other aspects. The implementation of the 2018-2019 economic policy which includes the revitalization of economic growth and creation of the conditions for sustainable development will promote our national interests by forming a joint service market.

In conclusion, I'd like to express my hopes that the future cooperation of the EEU nations will focus on promoting growth by creating comfortable conditions for business and investments and increasing the quality of life of our citizens.

Thank you for your attention.