Foreign Minister of Armenia received Assistant Secretary of State of the USA

Welcoming the guest, Edward Nalbandian commended the friendly partnership between Armenia and the United States that over the years has expanded and included new areas, and expressed hope that through joint efforts bilateral cooperation would further strengthen and deepen.

Expressing gratitude for the reception, Victoria Nuland mentioned that the United States attaches great importance to the development of cooperation with Armenia in different fields, and is ready to exert more efforts in this direction.

During the meeting joint efforts towards the expansion of bilateral relations were discussed.
Political dialogue, cooperation within international platforms were on the agenda of the meeting.
Edward Nalbandian and Victoria Nuland mentioned with satisfaction that USA- Armenia interaction includes such important spheres, as regional and international security issues, peacekeeping operations, non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, fight against terrorism. The Assistant Secretary of State expressed gratitude for the active contribution of Armenia to the peacekeeping operations.

Victoria Nuland stressed Armenia’s achievements in the areas of democracy, civil society strengthening, economic reforms, etc.

Perspectives of the development of Armenian-American economic cooperation, realization of joint projects, and promotion of investments were touched upon. In this regard, efforts aimed at enhancement of legal framework between the two states, particularly, preparation of the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement were highlighted.

Minister Nalbandian stressed, that since Armenia’s independence the United States have extended significant assistance to the development and the reform process in Armenia, and added that assistance programs gradually turned into cooperation and development projects.
The sides appreciated the entry into force since January 1st, 2015 of the agreement, reached between the Foreign Minister of Armenia and United States’ Secretary of State in 2013 on visa facilitation.

During the meeting views were exchanged over pressing international and regional issues, such as the crisis in Ukraine, developments in the Middle East.

In the context of the Nagorno-Karabakh negotiation process, Minister Nalbandian and Assistant Secretary of State shared the view that all possible efforts should be exerted for exclusively peaceful settlement of the issue on the basis of the principles of international law – non use of force or threat of force, territorial integrity and peoples’ right to self-determination. In this regard, Minister Nalbandian attached importance to the contribution and role of the US as OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair.

Edward Nalbandian asked to convey his greetings and best wishes to the Secretary of State John Kerry and reiterated his invitation to visit Yerevan.