New Delhi, July 5 -- MOSCOW - Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin will hold talks with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Yekaterinburg on Monday, the Russian government announced on Sunday.

Both prime ministers are scheduled to participate in the INNOPROM international industrial exhibition, which opens in Yekaterinburg on Monday. The bilateral meeting on the forum's sidelines will be Pashinyan's first visit to Russia since Armenia's parliamentary elections on June 7, in which his Civil Contract party retained power.

The timing of the meeting carries weight beyond a routine diplomatic exchange. Armenia's relationship with Russia has been under sustained strain for two years as Yerevan has distanced itself from Moscow-led s...