Acting US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Philip Reeker yesterday had a meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia.

As reported the Armenian MFA, during the meeting, top officials of the Armenian MFA and the US Department of State discussed a broad range of issues of mutual interest and particularly touched upon the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the immediate repatriation of Armenian prisoners of war and civilians being kept as hostages, as well as the situation created as a result of the infiltration of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan into the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia.

Both sides reaffirmed the continuity of the key role of the format of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, as well as attached importance to addressing the humanitarian issues and the free entry of international humanitarian aid into Artsakh.

The American side underscored the need to ease tension on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan and reaffirmed the stance of the US Department of State expressed through a statement on May 27, according to which the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan must return to the positions they were at on May 11.

The sides also exchanged views on the agenda of human rights protection and the prevention of crimes against humanity and underscored the importance of recognition of the Armenian Genocide as an active way to prevent such crimes in the future. They also considered the future activities in the Armenia-US strategic dialogue format.