Panorama.am
15:36 19/10/2007
ARMENIA MOVES FROM `LOW INCOME COUNTRY’ TO `MID INCOME COUNTRY,’ PRIME
MINISTER SAYS IN TALK
The delegation spearheaded by Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan left for
Los Angeles from Washington D.C. yesterday. The prime minister is
expected to meet the editorial board of `Los Angeles Times’ today. He
will also meet with the management of Linz Foundation.
Earlier the prime minister met with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert
Gates in Pentagon. He also met with U.S. Vice President Richard Cheney
and with John Danilovich, director of Millennium Challenges
Corporation. During the meeting with Gates, the prime minister praised
the development of bilateral military and political cooperation and
thanked the American party for continuous support to the Armenian
military forces. The defense secretary also praised the participation
in anti-terror coalition by Armenia and highly assessed the Armenian
peacekeeping mission in Iraq. The sides discussed further ways for
Armenia to participate in recovery of Iraq and also talked about the
possibility of Armenian forces to get involved in Afghanistan as a
support to coalition efforts. The prime minister underscored the
preservation to the balance in military assistance rendered to Armenia
and Azerbaijan.
Speaking about Karabakh conflict settlement, the prime minister
assured that Armenia is a supporter of peaceful and swift regulation
of the conflict by means of mutual concessions. He voiced his hope
that the discussions and the dialogue within the framework of OSCE
Minsk Group will yield needed result. Gates reiterated that USA
supports the efforts of peaceful regulation of the conflict within the
framework of OSCE Minsk Group.
During the meeting with Danilovich the latter spoke about the session
of Millennium Challenges Corporation managing board which will be held
in November. He has praised the performance of Armenia for the year
2007. The prime minister noted that Armenia has moved from a country
`of low income’ to a `mid income country.’ He added that the Armenian
government has ambitious targets in its draft budget 2008 the
implementation of which will also positively affect Millennium
Challenges Corporation indicators.
During the meeting with U.S. vice president, the parties mentioned
that Armenia-US relations are at a high level. Referring to the pace
of democratic reforms in Armenia, the prime minister mentioned that
Armenian authorities are determined to build a modern democratic
statehood. Referring to Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the U.S. vice
president voiced his hope that the negotiations within the framework
of Minsk Group will yield positive outcomes. Mr. Cheney reconfirmed
the interest of USA in normal relations between Armenia and Turkey as
well as he said USA is the supporter of the peaceful settlement of
Nagorno Karabakh conflict.
Source: Panorama.am
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
