On October 19, Edward Nalbandian, the Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs received William J. Burns, the First Deputy Secretary of State who arrived in Armenia in the frames of regional visit.

Welcoming the guest, Minister Nalbandian mentioned that the frequency of the recent high-level reciprocal visits and meetings were a serious impetus for the strengthening of the Armenian-American traditional friendly partnership, which is on a qualitatively new level today.

“I am pleased to have this opportunity to continue our useful talks held in New-York a month ago over the international and regional issues,” said Mr. Edward Nalbandian.
The Minister described the growth of the dynamics of interaction between Armenia and the United States and the expansion of the content of discussing issues as a proof of an effectiveness of joint work.

Expressing gratitude for the reception, the Deputy Secretary of State Mr. Burns underlined that the United States highly assess the established friendly partnership with Armenia and is intended to continue the development of comprehensive interaction, dialogue on international and regional issues and support to Armenia’s reforms.

In the course of the talk the sides touched upon a wide range of issues of the Armenian-American bilateral, regional and international agenda issues, steps undertaken towards the promotion of economic interaction, as well as the efforts of the Armenian authorities towards the strengthening of democracy.

In the course of the discussion on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, the Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs underscored that the positions repeatedly presented by Azerbaijan are not only opposed, but often contradicted to the statements made several times by the Presidents of the Co-chairing countries and the logic of peaceful process.

In this regard, Mr. William Burns noted that the maintenance of security in the South Caucasus and the normalization of the relationships between the countries of the region have constantly been in the center of the USA’s attention.

The Deputy Secretary of State added also that the only option of solving existing disputes and problems is through peaceful way.

Talking about the importance of the normalization of the Armenian-Turkish relations, the U. S. Deputy Secretary of State informed that the United States would continue to support this process.