1 / 3

On July 1 the Chairman of the NA Standing Committee on Foreign Relations Artak Zakaryan received Nick Gurr, Director of the International Security Policy at the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence. Katherine Leach, Ambassador of the United Kingdom to the RA attended the meeting.

Welcoming the guest Artak Zakaryan has noted that Armenia greatly highlights the development of cooperation in bilateral and multilateral format with the United Kingdom, as well as the activation of the inter-parliamentary relations.

At the guest’s request the Committee Chairman presented the regional developments, talked about the existing challenges, the NK conflict settlement process and the Armenian-Turkish relations.

Artak Zakaryan has stated that the RA pursues balanced foreign policy, taking into consideration the numerous problems existing in the region and the necessity of ensuring security and stable development.

Speaking about the NK problem, Artak Zakaryan has expressed his concern about the deconstructive position of Azerbaijan, which creates destabilisation danger in the region. According to the Committee Chairman, Armenia expects that the international organisations will have adequate and balanced attitude towards the peaceful settlement process of the Nagorno Karabakh problem.

Touching upon the settlement of Armenia-Turkey relations, Artak Zakaryan has noted that Armenia observes it without preconditions, in the context of the establishment of mutually beneficial cooperation, which is reflected in the Armenian-Turkish protocols signed on the establishment of diplomatic relations and development of bilateral relations, which have not been ratified because of non-adequate and irresponsible steps taken by the Turkish side.

Artak Zakaryan also talked about Armenia-NATO cooperation, noting that Armenia being a CSTO member continues mutually beneficial partnership with NATO.

Thanking for the reception, Nick Gurr highlighted the role of Armenia in the maintenance of stability in the region. He talked about the necessity of showing political support to the RA. The guest has emphasized the peaceful settlement in the NKR issue and has stated that the OSCE Minsk Group fulfills an important work in that issue, and it is necessary to support its efforts.

In the course of the meeting issues regarding the necessity of building mutual trust between the peoples of conflicting sides were also discussed.