Pashinyan, Blinken Discuss Armenia-US Issues, Regional Peace

YEREVAN — Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a telephone conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday.

The interlocutors discussed issues related to the Armenia-US bilateral agenda, as well as the security and stability of the region.

Blinken spoke of a “historic opportunity to achieve peace in the region” after the phone call with Pashinyan.

“Good discussion with [Prime Minister] Nikol Pashinyan on Armenia’s and Azerbaijan’s historic opportunity to achieve peace in the region. I commend Armenia on its positive steps forward with Azerbaijan [and] Turkey.” He said in a Tweet.

According to the official Armenian readout of the call, Pashinyan “reaffirmed his commitment to the peace agenda,” while Blinken expressed Washington’s readiness to assist in the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in its capacity as OSCE Minsk Group co-chair, the opening of Armenian-Azerbaijani transport links and the release of Armenian prisoners of war remaining in Azerbaijan.

Prime Minister Pashinyan reaffirmed his commitment to the peace agenda and emphasized that the Armenian public supports this course.

The interlocutors also discussed the processes taking place in Armenia-Turkey relations. The Secretary of State welcomed the telephone conversation between the Prime Minister of Armenia and the President of Turkey on July 11 and reiterated the willingness of the US to support the normalization of relations between the two countries.

The Armenian Prime Minister and the US Secretary of State hailed the high-level contacts between Armenia and the US and agreed to continue the dialogue..