Russian President Dmitry Medvedev pushed to strengthen longstanding ties with Armenia on a visit Tuesday, amid shifting political currents in the turbulent Caucasus after August's war in Georgia.
Ahead of talks with Armenian counterpart Serzh Sarkisian, Medvedev presided at the renaming of a central Yerevan square as Russia Square, saying: "We want the Armenian people to live in a strong, flourishing and stable state.
"I am sure the Armenian people also wish us peace, power and well-being."
A Kremlin official said talks between the two leaders would examine "the situation in the Caucasus that has resulted from the Georgian regime's aggression against South Ossetia" - the separatist zone at the center of the Georgia-Russia war in August.
The official said the leaders were also to discuss the simmering conflict over Nagorno Karabakh, a territory inside Azerbaijan that Armenia took control of in a war in the 1990s.
However, some observers say the conflict over South Ossetia, which disrupted gas supplies to Armenia, may be spurring Armenia to seek other supporters in addition to Russia.
Armenia took an ambiguous stance on the conflict and refused to follow Moscow's lead in recognizing the independence of the rebel Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Armenia is increasingly being courted by Western powers, including the U.S. and longtime foe Turkey.