President Receives NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for Caucasus and Central Asia James Appathurai

President Serzh Sargsyan received today NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia James Appathurai.

Welcoming the guest, the President stressed that visits like this provide a good opportunity to discuss the agenda of Armenia-NATO cooperation, as well as exchange views on regional and international developments.

President Sargsyan said to have kept warm memories of his fruitful meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, held on February 27, 2017, and asked the Special Representative to convey to the Secretary General warm greetings and the confirmation of his invitation to visit Armenia.

Thankful for the reception, James Appathurai conveyed NATO Secretary General’s best wishes and his readiness for a new meeting.

On behalf of the Alliance, the Special Representative of NATO Secretary General thanked Armenia for joining the peacekeeping operations in Afghanistan and Kosovo and contributing to international peacekeeping missions. In this context, he stressed that the NATO-Armenia relations had been developing in an atmosphere of mutual trust and understanding during all these years. He noted that he would leave Yerevan with the firm determination to build on the ongoing effective cooperation.

At the request of the guest, the President of Armenia briefed him on the process of transition to the new model of governance following the constitutional reform and the latest developments in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, as well as on his assessment of the situation. Reference was also made to Armenia-Iran relations, the problems and the threats to regional security.