Following his meeting today in Tbilisi with Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, visiting Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan issued the following statement to the press. (The statement was released by Khachaturyan’s office.)

First, I would like to thank Mrs. Zourabichvili for the warm reception and productive discussions.

I am glad to pay my first official visit as a President of the Republic of Armenia to a neighboring country.

The year is special for Armenian-Georgian relations. It marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. Interstate relations are only 30 years old, but the friendship between our countries has a history of thousands of years. Armenia attaches great importance to the continuous development and strengthening of relations with neighboring Georgia, for which all preconditions exist.

I am pleased to note that the traditional friendly relations of the two fraternal peoples, embedded in the same historical and cultural heritage and identical values, continue to develop through hard work and close cooperation, thus creating solid preconditions for further cooperation and state-building.

The intensity of the high-level meetings is a testament to the strong mutual commitment to further enhance mutually beneficial cooperation in all areas.

Armenian-Georgian relations have registered dynamic development. Such an assessment of relations is conditioned by the regular nature of bilateral meetings at the highest level, active interdepartmental contacts, the growth of cooperation in various fields, which are based on full mutual trust and respect.

Today, Mrs. President Zourabichvili, we had quite a full discussion, which includes various areas of bilateral cooperation: transport, communications, communication, information technology, humanitarian issues, etc.

We discussed issues related to infrastructure projects aimed at ensuring the necessary involvement in international transport and communication projects, such as the Persian Gulf-International Transport Corridors.

We reaffirmed our commitment to maintain the high level of our existing multifaceted relationship, to further enrich the agenda of cooperation.

Of course, during the meeting with Mrs. Zourabichvili, in addition to the bilateral agenda, we also touched upon issues of security, political and regional significance. I would like to emphasize that the current mutual understanding on such issues is conditioned by the realization of the inviolable Armenian-Georgian friendship.

In conclusion, I would like to again express my thanks for the warm reception and wish success in the implementation of all bilateral initiatives.

I am confident that the issues discussed will have their results, imparting a new quality and content to Armenian-Georgian relations.