ARMENPRESS
SERZH SARKISIAN MEETS TOP U.S. GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 19, ARMENPRESS: As reported
earlier on October 18 Armenian prime minister Serzh
Sarkisian met with U.S. secretary of defense Robert
Gates at the Pentagon.
Sarkisian was quoted by the government press office
as saying that the government of Armenia is pleased
with the effective and mutually beneficial military
and political cooperation with the USA and thanked the
U.S. government for its continued support to reforming
the armed forces of Armenia.
The government press office said Robert Gates for
his part appreciated highly Armenia’s contribution to
post-war Iraq reconstruction. They discussed then new
directions of Armenia’s participation in the Iraqi
reconstruction and then looked into possibilities of
Armenia’s participation in the NATO-led peacekeeping
operations in Afghanistan.
Serzh Sarkisian also emphasized that the U.S.
should maintain military aid parity to the South
Caucasian nations.
At the request of Robert Gates the Armenian prime
minister spoke about the Armenian government’s
performance with a focus on political and economic
reforms designed to drastically improve the living
conditions of the population. Sarkisian said the
government has enough resolution and will to attain to
these objectives.
Sarkisian also reaffirmed Armenia’s commitment to
seek a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict and expressed hope that the talks within the
OSCE Minsk Group format will produce positive results.
Later in the day Serzh Sarkisian visited the
headquarters of the Millennium Challenges Corporation
(MCC) for a meeting with its chief executive officer
John Danilovich. Sarkisian assessed highly the U.S.
government-funded program that has pledged a hefty
$236 million extra U.S. aid to Armenia and spoke about
next year’s government budget describing it as
`ambitious.’
In the afternoon Serzh Sarkisian visited the White
House for a meeting with vice-president Dick Cheney
and discussed a wide scope of bilateral issues. Serzh
Sarkisian was quoted by the government press office as
saying that the Armenian government is adamant to
build a modern democratic state.
Then they discussed Armenia-Turkey relations and
developments in the Greater Middle East region.
Regarding Turkey Sarkisian reiterated his government’s
position that Armenia is ready for unconditional
normalization of relationships .
In a reference to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
Sarkisian said Armenia is for a compromised and
peaceful solution to the conflict.
Richard Cheney spoke about the American-Armenian
community and commended it for its contribution to
building friendly American-Armenian relationships.
Later that day Sarkisian left for Angeles.