U.S. OFFICIAL SAYS TALKS WITH ARMENIA PRODUCTIVE

RIA Novosti, Russia
March 16 2006

YEREVAN, March 16 (RIA Novosti, Gamlet Matevosyan) – The American
assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs said
Thursday that talks with senior Armenian political figures had been
productive.

Daniel Fried, in Yerevan as part of his visit to the South Caucasus,
said at a news conference that he had held talks with Armenia’s
president and foreign minister and was satisfied with the results.

Fried said his visit aimed to push forward negotiations on the frozen
Nagorny Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan after a
meeting of the countries’ presidents. He said negotiations also
touched on energy security and general security in the region.

Fried said energy diversification had also been on the table, and
that the EU and U.S. saw the issue as highly significant. He said
the next Armenian-American high-level meeting would be held late in
March in Washington.