Edward Nalbandian meets UN State Secretary and UK Minister for European Affairs

On January 28, Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian who was in London on a working visit participated in International Conference on Afghanistan, which was held under the aegis and with participation of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Gordon Brown and President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai.

Foreign Ministers from 70 countries and heads of 10 influential international organizations attended the conference.

The participants of the conference adopted a joint declaration in which they reaffirmed the readiness of international community to support the establishment of stability, security and democracy in Afghanistan, to the development and prosperity of the country. They expressed their gratitude to those countries which are making contribution for the settlement of issues in Afghanistan.

In London Edward Nalbandian also had bilateral meetings.

On the same day the meting between Edward Nalbandian and US State Secretary Hillary Clinton took place.Foreign Minister of Armenia and US State Secretary expressed satisfaction with friendly partnership established between the two countries, regular high-level contacts and expressed readiness to continue the efficient steps for more strengthening and deepening of mutually beneficial cooperation.

Armenian Foreign Minister and his American counterpart touched upon the efforts aimed at the establishment of Armenian-Turkish relations. Hilary Clinton reaffirmed the US support for the process of normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey – for the speedy ratification and implementation of signed protocols. Minister Nalbandian mentioned that the decision of the Constitutional Court of Armenia on the Protocols’ correspondence to the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia proves again that Armenia is committed to fullfill its obligations. He added that Armenia expects the same approach from Turkey.

The two also discussed the recent developments in the negotiation process of settlement of Artsak (Nagorno Karabakh) issue. Edward Nalbandian praised US role as the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair country and presented to his American counterpart the results of the meeting between Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan on January 25.

Armenian Foreign Minister and US State Secretary exchanged views on other issues of mutual interest. During the meeting with Chris Bryant, the UK’s European Affairs Minister a number of bilateral, regional and international issues, as well as Armenia-European Union cooperation was discussed. The two stressed the importance of high-level visits for promoting bilateral cooperation.

They expressed satisfaction with holding regular political consultations between Foreign Ministries of the two countries, exchanged views on the expansion of legal field.

Edward Nalbandian and Chris Bryant also touched upon the recent developments in the negotiations process for settlement of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) issue, as well as processes in North Ireland.

The Ministers also discussed issues concerning the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations. Minister Bryant welcomed the efforts aimed at the establishment of relations between Armenia and Turkey.