Deputy Speaker of the Armenian parliament Eduard Sharmazanov on Friday met with his Greek counterpart Ioannis Tragakis during hsi trip to Athens.

The sides discussed issues related to integration with the European Union. Noting that Greece will assume presidency of the EU starting from January 2014, Tragakis reiterated his country’s readiness to support Armenia’s efforts aimed at strengthening and expanding relations with the Union.

Eduard Sharmazanov spoke about security in the South Caucasus, assuring that Armenia is ready to live in peace with all nations. Deputy Speaker presented the current stage of negotiation process on Karabakh, stressing that it is impossible to reach solution without Karabakh’s full participation in talks.

Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh support exclusively peaceful resolution of the conflict which is in line with the approach of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs. Eduard Sharmazanov shared his concerns over Azerbaijan’s belligerent rhetoric, noting that it is damaging the peace process.

In his turn, Ioannis Tragakis said Greece supports peaceful resolution of the conflict.

The sides discussed issues related to cooperation between the states and development of inter-parliamentary contacts. They also touched upon development of bilateral trade, while Ioannis Tragakis informed of an Armenian-Greek business forum scheduled for this September.