"We want to see an improvement in the Armenian parliamentary elections. That is important. We don't expect perfection. We don't expect to go from deeply flawed to perfect, but we do expect to see substantial forward progress, said Daniel Fried, Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs at a daily press briefing posted at www.state.gov.

"That is important. Armenia, given the strength of the Armenian Diaspora and given Armenia's links to the West, frankly, you ought to be way ahead of Georgia… Armenia should be doing better. It should be a leader. It should be a prospering country. It has all the ingredients. And lack of oil and gas is not necessarily a curse," he said.

When commenting on closing borders, Assistant Secretary Fried said, "Yes, but a lot of countries - Armenia is not blockaded. It has access through Georgia. It's not as if it has no access to the outside world. We hope that more is done."