SERZH SARGSYAN AND CONDOLEEZZA RICE MET
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[01:47 pm] 25 September, 2008
On September 24 Serzh Sargsyan had a series of meetings on the
sidelines of the 63rd UN General Assembly in New York. During his
meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice the sides
discussed a wide range of issues concerning U.S.-Armenia relations
and regional developments.
Serzh Sargsyan expressed gratitude to the U.S. government for
the show of support to Armenia. In response the Secretary of
State noted that Armenia is progressing in political reforms and
that serves as a good basis for further contributions. The sides
touched upon the Nagorno-Karabakh peace settlement process in the
format of the OSCE Minsk Group. Serzh Sargsyan reaffirmed Armenia’s
readiness to peacefully solve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through
negotiations. Condoleezza Rice stressed the importance of the
peaceful solution to the Karabakh conflict and underlined that the
peaceful settlement will contribute to the establishment of peace
and cooperation in the region. Rice congratulated Sargsyan for his
initiative aimed at regulating ties with Turkey and expressed hope
that the visit of the Turkish president to Armenia and the recent
meetings of Armenian and Turkish officials will set grounds for
future cooperation.
Before his meeting with Condoleezza Rice, Serzh Sargsyan had a meeting
with Dutch premier Yan Peter Balkenende during which the premier
touched upon the recent discussions regarding Armenian Genocide in
the Dutch parliament.
Serzh Sargsyan also met with the OSCE Minsk Group copresidents. The
sides discussed the Nagorno-Karabakh peace settlement, as well as
issues concerning the possibility of the next meeting of the presidents
of Armenia and Azerbaijan.
In his meeting with president of Serbia Boris Tadich, the sides
mentioned the many common historical-cultural ties between Armenians
and Serbs, the cordial ties between the peoples of both countries and
touched upon the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process. After that, Serzh
Sargsyan had a meeting with Latvian president Valdis Zatlers. The
presidents expressed content with the level of bilateral relations
and underlined the importance of realizing direct flights between
the capitals of both countries.