On October 8, a reception dedicated to the 24th anniversary of the Independence took place at the Embassy of the Republic of Armenia to the United States of America.

Ambassador John Heffern, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Ambassador James Warlick, US Co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, a number of officials from the US Department of State and the US Department of Defense, other Governmental institutions, diplomats and military attachés accredited to the United States, as well as many members of the American-Armenian community and the representatives of the East Coast Armenian community organizations, including the Armenian Apostolic Church, ANCA and AAA, participated in the event.

In his remarks, Ambassador Tigran Sargsyan welcomed the participants of the event. Then he touched upon the achievements reached by Armenia during 24 years of its independence and expressed deep appreciation for the continuous assistance provided by the United States. The Ambassador drew the attention of the guests to the challenges that Armenia is facing today and emphasized at the same time that the Armenian people and Armenian Government are strongly determined to address the challenges.

Ambassador Sargsyan highlighted the economic and political importance of the strategic partnership with the Russian Federation and the membership to the CSTO, and the Eurasian Economic Union. At the same time, he pointed out the fact of an increasing cooperation with the European countries, the European Union and the United States. The significant investments made by the Contour Global and the recently signed Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) are evidencing about the continuously deepening relations between Armenia and the United States. In particular, the TIFA opens up a broad prospect for the growth in the bilateral trade and economic cooperation.

Ambassador John Heffern, who also addressed the guests, mentioned with satisfaction the positive dynamics existing in the relations between the two countries and pointed out the commitment of the United States to maintain the current pace of bilateral cooperation.

During the event, Ambassador Tigran Sargsyan presented awards of President of Armenia to the following members of the American-Armenian community: philanthropist Jirair Nishanian (Medal of Gratitude) and Armenian area specialist of the Library of Congress Levon Avdoyan (Medal of Movses Khorenatsi).