YEREVAN, JULY 6, ARMENPRESS. Armenia’s foreign minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan held a meeting today with Simon McDonald, UK’s Permanent Under Secretary and Head of the Diplomatic Service at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

At the meeting the Armenian FM was pleased to note that activeness can be seen lately in the Armenia-UK relations.

The minister reiterated Armenia’s commitment in continuing and expanding dialogue between the two countries to achieve more tangible results.

Thanking for the reception, the British Under-Secretary said that it is an excellent time to be in Armenia to receive first hand information about the ongoing developments in the country, as well as to discuss the ways for expanding the Armenian-British agenda.

The Armenian FM briefed the British diplomat on the domestic developments, stressing the government’s commitment to conduct continuous reforms and highlighting support from partners.

The sides also touched upon the Armenia-EU partnership and the significance of CEPA. Mnatsakanyan expressed hope that the UK will soon  ratify the agreement also.

The sides discussed several international and regional issues, exchanged ideas over the situation in Syria and the Iran nuclear deal.

The Armenian FM presented the peaceful settlement process of the NK conflict and reaffirmed Armenia’s commitment to the exclusively peaceful settlement of the conflict within the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship internationally agreed format, stressing that the status and security issues of Artsakh are priorities for Armenia. The FM welcomed Britain’s support to the co-chairs in this context.

On the sidelines of the visit, the British diplomat delivered a lecture for the students of the Diplomatic School of Armenia’s foreign ministry.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan