Russia's and Armenia's leadership to sign three agreements on cooperation

On Tuesday Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov and representatives of Armenia's leadership will sign three agreements on cooperation, Sergei Ivanov himself told journalists.

According to him, the first agreement concerns changing the existing Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Security. "The combination of the words 'mutual security' will be replaced by 'mutual assistance'. On the face of it, it is simply a play on words but in actual fact it means transition of relations to a more serious level," the Russian Minister noted.

The second agreement will concern changes in the Agreement on Points of Location of the Russian Military Base on the Territory of Armenia, Ivanov said. "The territory occupied by the base's facilities will considered to be a single territory and will be determined in a way comfortable for us," he said.

The third agreement, said Ivanov, will concern the plans of military cooperation of Russia and Armenia for 2004.

The Russian Defense Ministry stated that on Tuesday the Russian Defense Minister will meet with Armenia's president Robert Kocharyan, Premier Andranik Margaryan, chairman of the National Assembly (parliament) Artur Bagdasaryan and his counterpart Serge Sarkisyan. According to the information at the Russian Defense Ministry's disposal, the questions relating to the functioning of the Russian 102nd military base in Kyumri will be touched upon at the talks.