On November 17, the meeting was held between the Minister of Foreign Affairs Edward Nalbadnian and Catherine Ashton, the Vice-President of the European Commission and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, who arrived in Yerevan on a regional visit.

Welcoming the EU high-level delegation, Minister Nalbandian mentioned that the rapprochement with the European family is one of the key priorities of Armenia’s foreign policy. Minster Nalbandian also expressed satisfaction with the annually expanding and deepening cooperation. Edward Nalbandian expressed confidence that the visit of Lady Ashton to Armenia and the effective discussions held in Yerevan would give a new impetus to the bilateral cooperation.

“Our relations are based on the same system of values and we intend to consistently carry out the reforms in Armenia in accordance to European standards,” said Edward Nalbandian.

Expressing gratitude for the reception, Catherine Ashton noted that the European Union attaches great importance to the comprehensive development of cooperation with Armenia and would continue to provide support to the development of Armenia and implementation of reforms.

The sides noted with satisfaction that recently the relations have dynamically been developed which is reflected in high-level contacts, expansion and deepening of political dialogue’s agenda, continuing progress in the negotiations on the Association Agreement, the preparatory works of the negotiations over the creation of Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Zone and the steps being undertaken towards the visa facilitation regime.

Upon the request of the guest, the Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs presented the recent development in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. In that context, Catherine Ashton presented her support to the efforts initiated by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs.

Edward Nalbandian and Catherine Ashton exchanged views on the regional issues. In this regard, the Vice-President of the European Commission highly assessed the steps undertaken by the Armenian leadership towards that direction.

The meeting was followed by a joint press conference.