Nalbandian, Rice reiterated necessity of peaceful solution to Karabakh problem

PanARMENIAN.Net - Currently in Washington, Armenia's Foreign Minister Edward Nalbanidan met Monday U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.



The top officials noted that historical and traditional Armenian-American ties as well as the current legal field and political will offer a possibility to expand ad deepen cooperation.



"Armenia attaches importance to development of multilateral relations with the United States," the Minister said, RA MFA media relations division head Tigran Balayan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.



Minister Nalbandian appreciated highly the U.S. economic assistance to Armenia that has amounted to $1,9 billion since the republic announced independence and implementation of programs in various fields.



Touching on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement process, Nalbandian and Rice reiterated the necessity of peaceful talks in the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group and on the basis of Madrid proposals which will secure progress in the process.



As to normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations, Minister Nalbandian said Armenia is willing to establish diplomatic ties without preconditions. He also briefed Secretary Rice on the steps Armenia's undertakes in this direction.