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Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan, who is in Stockholm on a working visit, on Thursday met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

The interlocutors commended the level and the development dynamics of the political dialogue between Armenia and the United States, the Armenian Foreign Ministry reported.

Ararat Mirzoyan highly appreciated the US support to democratic development, capacity building of state structures, the rule of law and the fight against corruption in Armenia. Antony Blinken expressed the full support of the U.S. side for the process of democratic reforms in Armenia.

Mirzoyan highly appreciated the resolute position of the United States regarding the issue of recognizing the Armenian Genocide. In this context, referring to President Joe Biden's this year’s statement on the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, the minister underscored that, therefore, the United States reiterated its commitment to the protection of human rights, the values ​​and principles of humanity.

The sides also discussed issues related to international and regional security and stability. In this context, Mirzoyan briefed the U.S. official on the situation resulting from the infiltration of the Azerbaijani armed forces into the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia and the recent aggression against the territorial integrity of Armenia. In this regard, the interlocutors highlighted the importance of implementing steps towards the de-escalation of the situation.

At the meeting, the sides had a detailed discussion on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. In the context of urgent humanitarian issues resulting from the 44-day war unleashed by Azerbaijan against Artsakh, the imperative of repatriating Armenian prisoners of war, hostages and other detainees was stressed.

Mirzoyan and Blinken emphasized the need for a resumption of the peace process aimed at comprehensive and lasting settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict under the mandate of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship. The role of the United States as a co-chair country was also highlighted.