Russia, Armenia to stay close: new presidents

By Oleg Shchedrov

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia will maintain close relations with Armenia, its staunchest ally in the strategic South Caucasus region, the newly elected presidents of both countries said during their first meeting in Moscow on Monday.

"This is your first foreign visit after the polls and we see it as a symbol of the high priority that Russian-Armenian relations have," Russia's Dmitry Medvedev told Armenia's Serzh Sarksyan.

"We hope that under your leadership we can continue relations we enjoyed in the past years," said the Russian president-elect, who will be sworn in on May 7 to replace outgoing President Vladimir Putin.

Landlocked Christian Armenia hosts a Russian military base and receives Russian gas at preferential prices.

It provides Moscow with a foothold in a South Caucasus region that is emerging as a major route for exports of oil from the Caspian Sea and where Russia and the West are competing for influence.

Sarksyan takes over from outgoing Armenian President Robert Kocharyan on April 9, but his election last month sparked violent protests by the opposition, which said the vote was rigged.

Riots in the capital Yerevan prompted the government to introduce a state of emergency that was lifted last week. Eight people died and about 200 were injured in post-election clashes.

The warm ties between Armenia and Russia are unlikely to change under the new leaders because both men are close allies of the outgoing presidents.