April 30, 2005 - 12:50 AMT
ARMENIA TO BUILD RELATIONS WITH ALL FRIENDLY BLOCS AND UNIONS
Armenia will build relations with all the friendly blocs and unions, Armenian Ambassador to Russia Armen Smbatian stated in his interview on OpenArmenia.com when responding to PanARMENIAN.Net reporter's question. When commenting on the possibility of Armenia's joining NATO Armen Smbatian said that Armenia's foreign policy is based exclusively on the national interests. "I find it difficult to judge what will happen in 10-15 years, but I can say for certain that complementarity is the main principle for building relations", the Ambassador noted. As for the CSTO prospects for next 5-10 years from the standpoint of reduction of the Russian military presence in the South Caucasus, Armen Smbatian noted that Armenia attaches great importance to the CSTO and preservation of the Russian military bases in the republic.