On April 17, while on a working visit in Paris, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, Foreign Minister of Armenia, had a discussion with the French leading experts on "Armenia's Foreign Policy after the Velvet Revolution" in the French Institute of International Relations held under the Chatham House Rule.

At the beginning of his remarks, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan touched upon the priorities of Armenia's foreign policy, as well as the government's reforms being implemented on the basis of public’s broad mandate. The Foreign Minister of Armenia particularly mentioned: "The Velvet Revolution of Armenia was strictly a domestic affair. I am sure you will remember the flow of people demanding change in the streets of Armenia and you will notice the flag they raised -  the Armenian tricolor. There was no other flag. The Velvet Revolution in Armenia did not have any geopolitical implication. It refers to us, our country and our people."

Minister Mnatsakanyan underlined that Armenia's foreign policy is based on deep security consciousness, which is conditioned by a number of factors: it is a historical context, it is a regional policy and it is a actual global challenge.

According to the Minister, during the last 27 years Armenia has built its own security architecture, based on the principle of comprehensive and cooperative security. This principle includes military-political security, as well as security for the development of Armenia’s state and public institutions, economic and social development. With an objective to ensure the comprehensive security, Armenia cooperates with its allies and international partners, always taking into account the starting point that Armenia's foreign policy is exclusively pro-Armenian and Armenia does not build its relations with any country at the expense of another.

In a question and answer session Minister Mnatsakanyan presented Armenia's position on a number of urgent regional and international issues. Touching upon Armenia's foreign policy priorities, the Foreign Minister reiterated Armenia's approaches to and principled position in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process, stressing that the settlement of the conflict should be based on the respect of the inalienable right of the people of Artsakh for a safe and free life.