Monday, 17 November 2008
RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan received OSCE Minsk Group co-chair Matthew Bryza. A broad range of issues have been discussed, including US-Armenia economic cooperation, joint action to meet today's financial and economic threats, the need in continued activities under the Millenium Challenge Program and, in this light, subsequent collaboration with the Millenium Challenge Corporation, the latest developments in the Karabakh peace process and the outcome of the Armenian Prime Minister's recent visit to Washington.
Matthew Bryza said to be pleased with the Prime Minister's visit to the United States by noting that officials in Washington have been impressed by their talks with the head of the RA government and the reforms underway in Armenia. Mr. Bryza took the opportunity to ask the Prime Minister about the current status and the outlook of reforms.
The Prime Minister highlighted the reform of tax and customs administrations, touched upon the concerns voiced by the MCC regarding some important indicators and took the opportunity to outline his government's anti-crisis action plan. The parties also looked at the possibility for Armenia to get additional aid under the US government's technical assistance program. According to Mr. Bryza, not only does the Millenium Challenge Program add a strong momentum to the friendship and cooperation between the two countries, but it is also an indication of the country's adherence to the right path. He assured that the US side is interested in program continuity, though we should not forget that the latter is conditional on the achievement of specific target indicators.
With reference to the Karabakh conflict, the OSCE Minsk Group US co-chair underscored that any settlement scenario should imply a right balance between the principles of territorial integrity and self-determination. In the words of Matthew Bryza, the latest developments in our region demonstrated once again that it is inadmissible to resolve conflicts by force of arms.
In conclusion, the need for expanding and developing diversified partnership and cooperation ties between the two countries was emphasized on either side.
