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Relations with Russia are of special importance for Armenia, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said in an exclusive interview with the Defense Ministry’s Zinuzh (Armed Forces) program.

The PM also called for upgrading relations with Russia to a higher level ahead of his upcoming visit to Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.  

“Our relations with Russia have a special place and significance, and we hope to make them more effective in the future,” he said. “Our relations should be at a much higher level, they should be more strategic, more cooperative and much more brotherly.”

In an excerpt of the interview posted by the PM’s spokesman Arman Yeghoyan on Facebook on Friday, Pashinyan also reflected on Armenia’s relations with the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), adding he spotted the same issue at the first contacts with leaders of the CSTO member states.

“Firstly, it is necessary to record a problem to later discuss them patiently in an allied atmosphere and within logic to identify the CSTO’s obligations to Armenia and Armenia’s obligations to the organization and its member states,” the PM added.

The spokesman added the interview also addressed issues over the combat readiness and build-up of the Armenian army, as well as the mechanisms for the settlement of the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) conflict.