Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian started his visit to UK with a meeting with UK Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Philip Hammond.

Welcoming Minister Nalbandian, Mr. Hammond stressed importance of continued active high level contacts.

The Armenian Foreign Minister pointed out recent frequent high level visits, contacts at the level of parliaments, business communications, which creates good preconditions for the development of cooperation in various fields. The foreign ministers of Armenia and the UK discussed ways to expand cooperation between the two countries.

The Ministers touched upon Armenia-EU relations, the steps to create a new legal framework for the collaboration, Armenian MFA said in a statement.

The sides exchanged views on the situation in the Middle East, the Syrian crisis and ways out of it, the fight against terrorism, as well as the agreement reached over Iran’s nuclear program.

The Armenian Minister briefed his counterpart on activities in connection with the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. In this context, Mr. Nalbandian thanked UK for co-authoring the UN resolution initiated by Armenia on the prevention of genocides.

The Foreign Minister had a working lunch with the Minister for European Affairs David Lidington, during which they discussed the Armenian-British relations, Armenia-EU cooperation, the Ukrainian crisis and other international issues.

They also touched upon the ways to resolve conflicts in the region. Minister Nalbandian presented the efforts of Armenia and the OSCE Minsk Group into finding settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The UK official expressed his support to the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group.

On the same day Minister Nalbandian was interviewed by BBC.