Russian President Vladimir Putin, Honorary Chairman of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council Nursultan Nazarbayev, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Acting President of Kyrgyzstan Talant Mamytov and Eurasian Economic Commission Board Chairman Mikhail Myasnikovich attended the meeting.
President of Moldova Igor Dodon was in attendance as the Head of an EAEU observer state. President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and President of Cuba Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez also took part in the meeting as heads of candidate states for obtaining observer status within the EAEU.
Prime Minister Pashinyan delivered a speech, in which he stated:
“Dear Chairperson,
Dear Heads of State,
Dear meeting participants,
I am pleased with today’s meeting, and I would like to warmly greet Honorary Chairman of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council Nursultan Abishevich Nazarbayev. This is the last meeting of the Supreme Council in 2020. In this connection, I would like to start my speech with words of gratitude for the Belarusian chairmanship in the EAEU. In the current force majeure situation, the chairmanship of Minsk was productive and useful with the member states’ support and the fruitful work of the Commission,.
The pandemic and other challenges we have been facing this year created major problems. In the meantime, it failed to narrow the Union’s reach. On the contrary, the hardships resulted in consolidation. Moreover, they highlighted the need to bring to completion the process of building a well-functioning integration union to ensure the free movement of goods, services, labor and capital. The Union should provide conditions conducive to full convergence of our economies and increased level of integration. This imperative was confirmed during the crisis which was eased with the support we have received from our partners. We are grateful for the invaluable assistance provided by the Russian Federation in countering the spread of COVID-19 and in countering the challenges we faced this year.
Concerning the steps to overcome today’s challenges, we cannot avoid mentioning the fact that geographical remoteness and the absence of a common border with member nations give rise to certain difficulties and economic costs for Armenia. As a consequence, unimpeded freight and passenger traffic with the rest of the Union are of fundamental importance to us. Restrictions in this area are especially sensitive, and therefore, the creation of conditions for the abolition of the bans on the entry of Armenian citizens into a number of EAEU countries is of current importance today.
In the context of achieving economic stability in the current environment, I would like to highlight Armenia’s initiative aimed at enabling “green corridors” in order to simplify the applicable customs procedures. We should apply such measures as may help us build on our countries’ foreign economic relations both within the Union and with third countries and their unions.
Dear Colleagues,
Today’s meeting takes on special significance, given that the Republic of Cuba and the Republic of Uzbekistan will be officially granted an observer status within the Eurasian Economic Union. In this regard, I would like to welcome President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Miromonovich Mirziyoyev and President of Cuba Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez. We reaffirm our commitment and willingness to cooperate.
In the near future we hope to see the observer states involved in the implementation of joint programs, which in turn may promote the growth of mutual trade and economic cooperation. This will help increase our countries’ investment appeal.
We believe that the EAEU’s interaction on the external contour should be built up with new mutually beneficial projects that could imply enhanced cooperation with a particular country. In this vein, we consider adopting a decision to continue work on the interim agreement signed with Iran in 2018.
Armenia committed to consistently promoting EAEU’s economic interests on the global market and strengthening the EAEU positioning as a reliable, predictable partner in the international arena.
We are confident that as adopted today, ...
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