YEREVAN. – President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan sent a congratulatory message to President Barack Obama of the United States, on the forthcoming US Independence Day anniversary.

“Honorable President Obama:

“Allow me to wholeheartedly congratulate you and the people of the United States on the occasion of Independence Day of the United States of America.

“Early next year, we will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between our nations. Looking back on our journey, I note with great satisfaction that the Armenia-US relations have always been marked by cordiality, mutual trust and respect.

We highly value the great support extended by the United States towards the development of Armenia's economy, the implementation of various reforms and the strengthening of our democratic institutions. Building on a strong tradition of fruitful cooperation and on the existing significant potential, Armenia stands ready to further deepen and develop the Armenian-American friendship and the close partnership.

“We greatly appreciate the US engagement, as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, in the Nagorno-Karabakh peaceful settlement process. The diplomatic efforts that followed the full-fledged military operation of Azerbaijan against Nagorno-Karabakh in the early April, 2016, have once again underscored the key role played by the United States in the peace process. Similar to the co-chair countries of the Minsk Group, we are also strongly convinced that the maintenance of the unlimited-in-time trilateral ceasefire agreements of 1994-1995 and the implementation of steps leading to the establishment of an environment conducive to negotiations, would serve as a strong foundation for the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through exclusively peaceful means. We expect that the United States, jointly with the other co-chair countries - Russia and France, will continue its active mediation mission towards the establishment of a stable and durable peace in our region.

“Please allow me to once again congratulate you on Independence Day and to wish you and people of the United States continued progress and prosperity. Please accept, Mr. President, the assurances of my highest consideration,” reads the congratulatory message of the President of Armenia, Armenian News-NEWS.am has learned from the Press Office of the President.

US Independence Day is celebrated on July 4.