On February 26, Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian who was in Damascus with an official visit met the President of the Syrian Arab Republic Bashar al-Assad.

Welcoming Armenian Foreign Minister, Syrian President said that Syria attaches importance to the development of broad relations with Armenia and stressed that there is an appropriate political will and a solid legal field for that.

Edward Nalbandian handed over the Address of the President of Armenia to the President of Syria, which contained the invitation to visit Armenia. Minister Nalbandian said that our Armenia is interested in expansion and strengthening of mutually beneficial cooperation with Syria - one of the leading countries in the Arab world, underlining that his visit to Damascus is aimed at the reiteration of that.

President al-Assad and Minister Nalbadian exchanged views on the settlement of issues existing in the Middle East. Armenian Foreign Minister presented to the President of Syria the negotiation process on the settlement of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) issue and possibilities of normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations. President al-Assad welcomed Armenia’s steps towards normalization of relations with Turkey and expressed confidence that they it will promote the reinforcement of stability and security in the region. President al-Assad asked to deliver his greetings to the President of Armenia and inform that he accepts the invitation and will visit Armenia during this year.

In the course of the meeting with his Syrian counterpart Walid Muallem Armenian Foreign Minister had a detailed discussion on the issues concerning further development of bilateral relations.

The two expressed satisfaction on the effective cooperation between the two countries within different formats and activity of intergovernmental commission.

 Ministers Nalbandian and Muallim discussed the strengthening of security in the regions of the Middle East and the South Caucasus. They also had a discussion on issues concerning cooperation within the frameworks of international organizations.

During the meeting, the Foreign Ministers reached agreement on the new building of Armenian Embassy in Damascus, which will be provided by the Syrian Government.

Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Syria signed an Agreement on mutual abolishment of visa requirement for holders of diplomatic and official passports.

The meeting between Foreign Ministers was followed by the joint press conference with participation of leading Medias of the Arab world.

In the evening, Armenian Foreign Minister met with the leaders of Armenian organizations of Damascus, the Heads of the Diocese of Damascus of the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Armenian Catholic Church and the Armenian Evangelical Church.

Concluding his regional visit to the Middle East countries Foreign Minister of Armenia returned Yerevan.