Czech President Pledges Support for Armenia’s Efforts to Reduce Economic Dependence on Russia

PRAGUE — The Czech Republic will seek to support Armenia in reducing its economic dependence on Russia and diversifying its economic relations, Czech President Petr Pavel said.

Pavel made the remarks during a joint press conference following talks with Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan at the presidential residence.

The Czech president welcomed Armenia’s efforts to reduce its economic dependence on Russia.

He said Russia uses its influence to exert pressure on neighboring countries and prevent them from expanding their relations with other nations.

“Armenia is heavily dependent on the Russian market, and we will try to provide support so that the country can reduce that dependence,” Pavel said.

He noted that the Council of the European Union had recently adopted a decision liberalizing access to the EU market for approximately 80 percent of goods exported from Armenia by temporarily eliminating tariffs on those products for a two-year period.

Pavel said he sees significant potential for cooperation with Armenia in several sectors, including energy, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and security.

“We are focusing on these issues during our meetings, and I hope that we will see concrete results in the near future,” Pavel said.