Foreign Minister Edward ‪Nalbandian‬ met Thursday, January 14 with Charles ‪Kupchan‬, Special Assistant to the U.S. President and National Security Council Senior Director for Europe, Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

At the meeting, Nalbandian stressed the importance of strengthening of ties with the U.S., also commending Armenian-American friendly partnership and joint steps towards further development.

Kupchan, in turn, welcomed the opportunity to discuss ways to enhance the already strong and multifaceted relationship, “to achieve the shared aim of a free, prosperous, and secure Armenia at peace with its neighbors.”

The parties further hailed 2015 as a dynamic year in terms of the development of bilateral relations: agreement on facilitation of the Armenia-U.S. visa requirements came into force, the Armenia-U.S. Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) was signed in May, in November, Yerevan hosted the first meeting of the Armenia-U.S. Council on Trade and Investment, the session of the Armenia-U.S. Intergovernmental Committee on Economic Cooperation was convened.

At the meeting, the discussion also focused on the international and regional issues, fight against terrorism, conflict settlement, as well as Armenia’s participation in peacekeeping operations.

In this context, Nalbandian stressed that Armenia will continue making joint efforts with the Minsk Group Co-chairs for a peaceful resolution of the Karabakh conflict.