March 11, 2006 - 15:12 AMT
US Officials Frequent Visits to Armenia Not Due to Karabakh Issue
The US is not trying to intercept the initiative in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement, Armenian FM Vartan Oskanian stated in an interview with Shant TV Company. He remarked that he does not consider the visits of US officials to Armenia becoming more frequent as an attempt to take the initiative or compete. The Armenian FM supposes that the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs will adjust their positions in the Karabakh issue. In his words, today the US-Armenia cooperation agenda is rather rich and the two countries have "enough tasks and common interests" besides the Karabakh issue. At that V. Oskanian reminded that in the near future the Armenian part of the Millenium Challenge Account will be signed. Frequent visits of US officials are due exactly to that question, though during these matters referring to the NK issue are also discussed, he added. The Armenian FM reminded that US Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried will be the next to visit Armenia. He will arrive in Yerevan accompanied with OSCE MG American Co-Chair Steven Mann.