Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan today received outgoing Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Armenia Jun Yamada.

The Prime Minister highly appreciated the Ambassador’s work and stated that Armenia and Japan have succeeded in further strengthening their relations. Pashinyan added that Armenia is grateful to the Japanese government for providing technical support in various sectors, including the fight against natural disasters. He also wished Japan success in organizing the Olympic Games in Tokyo this summer and mentioned that Armenia’s delegation will also be attending the solemn opening.

Yamada considered his diplomatic mission in Armenia an honor and added that the Japanese government intends to provide technical support to Armenia to organize the upcoming snap parliamentary elections, and Pashinyan expressed gratitude to the Japanese government for the willingness to provide technical support.

Pashinyan also touched upon the situation created in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) after the war that Azerbaijan unleashed and emphasized that the return of Armenian prisoners of war being kept in Azerbaijan, the preservation of Armenian historical and cultural heritage in the territories of Artsakh that are under the control of Azerbaijan and the settlement of conflict on the basis of the right to self-determination remain priorities for the Armenian sides. He also attached importance to the response of the international community and called Japan’s attention to this as well.

The interlocutors exchanged views on the intensification of economic ties and considered partnership in the infrastructure sector interesting, and Japan’s Ambassador said Armenian wines were in the leading position at the recent wine competition in Japan.