On June 1, RA Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian and Canadian Foreign Minister, Minister of International Trade Lawrence Cannon held the second stage of the talks.

The officials had an in-depth discussion on the issues on the agenda of 2010 G8 AND Group of Twenty Summit, the press service of the RA Foreign Office informed NEWS.am. Nalbandian informed his Canadian counterpart of Armenia’s decision to support Canada’s candidacy in the UN Security Council elections for non-permanent seats.

The RA Foreign Minister next met with Canadian Minister of State for Science and Technologies Gary Goodyear. The diplomats underlined the importance of exchanging experience and reached an agreement on the cooperation between Armenian and Canadian scientific and educational institutions.

The same day Minister Nalbandian visited the Canadian Parliament and attended a session of the House of Representatives. He also visited Carleton University and delivered a speech on Armenia’s foreign policy. He presented the current state and prospects of bilateral relations, Armenia’s regional policy and Armenian-Turkish normalization process.

Speaking of the prospects of the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process, Minister Nalbandian said: “The use of force or threats must not be cards to play during the talks. The Azerbaijani leader’s bellicose statements, sabre-rattling and enmity-arousing rhetoric are not only violations of international law, but also run counter to Azerbaijan’s promises of friendship with Nagorno-Karabakh. How cynical it is to promise to care for someone along with issuing threats to kill this one if this one will not obey.

“Azerbaijan has an illusion that the Azeri flag waving in Stepanakert would symbolize the settlement of the problem. In fact, it was Stalin’s violently imposing this flag on Artsakh in 1921 that led to a conflict later.”

Minister Nalbandian also answered numerous questions by diplomats, experts and students.