On May 15-16, the delegation headed by the Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Ashot Hovakimian participated in the High-Level Political Meeting dedicated to the 15th anniversary of the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) in Paris. The meeting was organized by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defense of France at the level of senior officials of the participating States, including the Deputy Ministers of Foreign Affairs.

More than 70 delegations took the floor at the meeting, highlighting the importance of the steps that are being undertaken within the framework of the initiative both at the national and regional levels.

In his remarks, Deputy Minister Hovakimian reiterated Armenia's commitment to the goals of the initiative and the adopted documents and noted that the Republic of Armenia always stands for the application of a more effective and coordinated procedures and tools, which would ensure the prevention of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their trafficking.

Ashot Hovakimian presented the steps taken by Armenia towards combating the WMD proliferation, including the implementation of the 2015-2020 National Action Plan under the UN Security Council Resolution 1540, development of legal framework and capacity building in the areas of non-proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, export control and border security. Armenia has also taken measures to prevent the threat of terrorism with the use of WMD, and to strengthen the capabilities for physical defense of nuclear material.

Reference: WMD Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) has been officially announced by the US President George W. Bush on May 31, 2003, during the meeting with the President of Poland Aleksander Kwaśniewski in Krakow (Poland). The "Proliferation Security Initiative," is a global initiative with the main objective to fight the trafficking of weapons of mass destruction, their delivery systems and materials used in their production. At present, 105 countries have joined the initiative. Armenia joined the initiative on March 24. 2006, by confirming the Statement of Interdiction Principles.