Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan and Italian Senate president Maria Elisabetta Alberti Casellati on Thursday, April 7 discussed the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

Sargsyan is in Italy to participate in the unveiling of a statue Armenian monk St. Gregory of Narek in the Vatican, which was held on Thursday.

At the meeting with the Italian lawmaker, Sargsyan stressed the legislatures’ role in the promotion of interstate relations and an atmosphere of mutual trust and mutual understanding, noting that Armenia is eager to establish closer ties between the two parliaments and develop relations within the framework of inter-parliamentary assemblies which, according to the president, will allow Armenia and Italy to provide comprehensive and reciprocated support on important issues.

President Sargsyan thanked for and highly appreciated the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by Italy’s Parliament.

Stressing that the privileged Armenian-Italian relations are anchored on the two friendly nations’ historical ties and shared Christian values, Sargsyan said the interstate relations have been evolving in the spirit of partnership and mutual trust over the past quarter century, and the two countries have built up strong ties of cooperation in the fields of economy, defense, decentralized governance, inter-parliamentary and humanitarian exchanges. A vivid evidence of mutual respect and understanding between Armenia and Italy is the effective service of Armenian peacekeepers as part of the UN peacekeeping mission under the Italian command in Lebanon.

Also, the two weighed in on the EU-Armenia relations as a key element of the Armenian-Italian cooperation agenda.