YEREVAN -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has told journalists that the Turkish and Armenian parliaments should quickly ratify and put into practice their historic agreement, signed in Switzerland on October 10, normalizing relations between the two countries, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports.
Lavrov also pledged support in linking railways between the two countries. Russia owns Armenia's railway network.
At a meeting in Moscow on October 10, Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian personally thanked Russian President Dmitry Medvedev for his help in getting Turkey and Armenia to sign the protocols on improving relations.
He said he was thankful for the Russian role in "supporting the development of our relations with Turkey."
In comments before the meeting, Medvedev said Russia should think of a way to make up for this year's nearly 20 percent drop in the volume of Russian-Armenian trade, a decrease attributed to the global economic crisis.
Sarkisian and Medvedev also discussed "prospects for the realization of large-scale joint projects in the energy sphere," the Kremlin said in a statement after the meeting.