Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan expressed hope in the development of bilaterally beneficial and fruitful cooperation between the two countries.

Sargasyan and his wife Rita on Thursday evening gave a dinner in honor of the Russian leader and his wife, Svetlana, who arrived in Yerevan on a state visit.

The Armenian president said in July that Medvedev's visit to Armenia would become a new stage in bilateral relations.

Also in July, Sargsyan met with President of the Russian Olympic Committee Alexander Zhukov, where the sides stressed that Armenian-Russian relations should develop according to the spirit of strategic partnership.

Zhukov said that an effective dialog between the countries at all levels made a firm basis for new programs and further expansion of cooperation.

The same month Russia and Armenia signed in Yerevan an agreement on cooperation between their national Olympic committees and discussed a project to build a sports base near Lake Sevan in Armenia.

Medvedev is due to participate in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) informal summit to be held in the Armenian capital on August 20-21.

YEREVAN, August 19 (RIA Novosti)