Acting Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan today had a telephone conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the initiative of the latter, as reported on the official website of the Prime Minister of Armenia.

The American side congratulated Nikol Pashinyan on Civil Contract Party’s victory in the elections and underscored the consistent actions that the Armenian government has been taking over the past years to ensure the country’s achievements in terms of democracy. He also stressed the importance of the government’s reforms agenda, particularly in the fight against corruption and the justice sector and added that the US is willing to continue to provide assistance in this direction.

Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan expressed gratitude for the appreciation of Armenia’s achievements, highly appreciated the US government’s ongoing support for the launch of the operation of the Patrol Service in Yerevan and voiced hope that the US government’s support will provide the opportunity to complete the process.

The acting premier highly appreciated the efforts that Philip Reeker made for the return of Armenian prisoners of war from Azerbaijan a month ago and attached importance to the return of captives and the pullout of Azerbaijani armed forces from the sovereign territory of Armenia as key issues for the establishment of stability in the region.

The Secretary of State assured that the US will continue to make efforts to ensure the return of all POWs. Touching upon the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Blinken said it is extremely important to restore the activities of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and underscored the need for development of a clear-cut agenda for the peace process. In this context, Pashinyan also stressed that the conflict remains unresolved and requires a comprehensive resolution that can only be achieved through the Co-Chairmanship of the Minsk Group. The American side stated that it agrees with the acting premier that the status-quo can’t be sustainable and that the Co-Chairmanship of the Minsk Group needs a specific agenda that will contribute to the success of negotiations.