The opening of the Geopolitical session "Armenia and Russia: the imperative of a new strategy" took place at the House of Culture of Russian-Armenian University on October 15, and was dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the state's independence of the Republic of Armenia. The event was held on the eve of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Armenia and Russia.

The geopolitical session was organized jointly with IMEMO after E. Primakov of the Russian Academy of Sciences and MGIMO of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia. 

The guests and participants of the session were welcomed by Professor Armen Darbinyan, RAU Rector, former Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia. He pointed out that an open academic discussion was expected: "Therefore, from the very beginning I call for active actions and questions. Our speakers of the high academic class are ready to answer your questions. We will have a free exchange of views on the prospects for the development of Russian-Armenian relations and opportunities for cooperation." 

Professor Darbinyan also presented a collection of materials of the international scientific and expert forum "Armenia in a Global Context", published following the results of the Primakov Readings held in Yerevan in 2019, organized outside Russia for the first time. 

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Russia to Armenia Sergey Kopyrkin also addressed a welcoming speech. He emphasized the role of Russian-Armenian University in the context of bilateral relations between Russia and Armenia: "Such structures in the field of education, such prominent educational institutions as Russian-Armenian University, play a special role in terms of educating young people, forming a spirit of alliance in society, awareness of the values of relations between Russia and Armenia, their importance for the further development of the two peoples and countries."

Russian Ambassador Sergey Kopyrkin assured that he was very pleased to be at Russian-Armenian University, at an extremely important discussion event. He highlighted that the topic of the meeting was certainly highly relevant and needed no introduction. Moreover, next year marks the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Russia and Armenia and the 30th anniversary of the great treaty of friendship, cooperation, and mutual assistance between the two countries: "Now we are experiencing serious changes in the world, in the South Caucasus region, in a wider area, and our countries. In fact, behind these sometimes dramatic events there lies an obvious trend towards the formation of new world order. Now various forces, powers, blocs of powers, alliances are fighting for positions in this new, yet unknown world order. Competition is growing and sometimes takes on very dramatic forms that are not always acceptable from the point of view of the classics of diplomacy. The struggle is becoming multifaceted. A new term "hybrid war" is being used, the meaning of which is still difficult to fully grasp. And in these conditions, relations between traditional allies, relations that have been proven for centuries, become even more relevant. The population of our countries feels very well the value of these relations, an asset that, I am sure, helps and will help us protect our interests in this difficult world."

A major forum is being held with the participation of well-known Russian and Armenian scientists and experts. The first report on the topic "A new configuration of forces in the South Caucasus: risks and opportunities for cooperation between Russia and Armenia" was presented by Fedor Voitolovsky, Corresponding Member of Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Political Sciences, Professor of Russian Academy of Sciences, Director of the Primakov IMEMO of Russian Academy of Sciences.

"Russian Federation has done its best in the circumstances in which we found ourselves a year ago," the expert said, referring to the war in Nagorno-Karabakh.

 

The scientist stressed that RAU had become an important platform for scientific and expert interaction between Armenian and Russian experts on issues of international relations, security, world, and regional economy.

It should be noted that reports were also made by Professor Pargev Avetisyan, RAU Vice-Rector for Science; Nikolay Silaev, a lead researcher at the Institute of International Studies of MGIMO of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Director of the Laboratory for Analysis of International Processes of MGIMO; Ashot Engoyan, Head of the Department of Theory and History of Political Science of the Faculty of International Relations of YSU, Professor; Professor Sergey Afontsev, Deputy Director of the IMEMO RAS for Scientific Work, Corresponding Member of the RAS; Professor Edward Sandoyan, Director of the Institute of Economics and Business of RAU; Professor Oleg Ivanov, Adviser to the Chairman of the Council of the Association of Banks of Russia, Vice-President of Alfa-Bank; Eduard Soloviev, Head of the Center for Post-Soviet Studies of IMEMO RAS, as well as Professor Armen Darbinyan, RAU Rector.