Visiting Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandia met yesterday with US Secretary of State John Kerry at the U.S. Department of State in Washington.

“It’s my pleasure today to welcome Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian from Armenia. It is a particular pleasure to welcome him because I think everybody knows Massachusetts is home to one of the largest populations of Armenians outside of Armenia, so we’re very happy. I have many friends in the Armenian community, and for years, have worked with my friends in Armenia on a number of different issues, Secretary Kerry said before the meeting with the Armenian Foreign Minister.

“Armenia today is an important partner with United States in a number of initiatives.  They’re helping us in Afghanistan with the ISAF and they’ve played a key role in Kosovo helping to keep peace there. Obviously, one of the issues that we all really want to try to see resolved one day is the frozen conflict of Nagorno-Karabakh. It is critical that all the parties – when I say all the parties, I mean, obviously, the Azerbaijanis, but also Turkey, Russia, Iran, others – try to find a way to help break the impasse that has kept this struggle alive and always potentially dangerous,” he stated.

 Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian thanked Secretary Kerry for the warm welcome and said it’s a pleasure to him to be in Washington.

“Both countries have a good interface in the international arena covering international regional security, proliferation, fight against terrorism, as you mentioned, peacekeeping operations from Kosovo to Afghanistan, other challenges, who are sharing vision – same vision – that it is important to continue efforts to find exclusively peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict based on the principles and norms of international law, particularly non-use of force, excessive force, self-determination, territorial integrity who are sharing the vision that the relations between Armenia and Turkey should be normalized without preconditions, who are sharing the same values of democracy, fundamental freedoms, liberty, human rights, market economy, who are very thankful that during the last two decades since our independence, United States extended very important support for Armenia, and we are thankful for that, Minister Nalbandian said.