Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan received a delegation led by Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi on 18 September.
Pashinyan expressed gratitude to Nancy Pelosi for her "personal efforts and contribution to the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the United States." Along with this, he thanked the United States for supporting Armenian democracy, and stressed the commitment to democratic reforms.
“We appreciate the clear position of the United States regarding the Azerbaijani aggression against Armenia. The specific wording of the US response is very important to us,” Pashinyan stressed.
In turn, the speaker of the US House of Representatives said: " Support for democracy in Armenia, the Armenian Genocide recognition resolution, countering Turkey in the Nagorno Karabakh issue, and in all other issues we are Armenia's friend."
During the Armenian National Assembly speaker’s meeting of with Nancy Pelosi on the same day, Alen Simonyan noted that the visit of the delegation takes place "in the most difficult" period for Armenia. He recalled that on September 13, Azerbaijan launched "a new round of aggression against the sovereign territory of Armenia." In this context, the Armenian speaker expressed gratitude to the American side for the ceasefire agreement reached with the mediation of Washington on the evening of September 14th.
“The focus was on security following the illegal and deadly attacks by Azerbaijan on the Armenian territory. We strongly condemn those attacks — we in our delegation on behalf of Congress — which threaten prospects for a much-needed peace agreement,” the Speaker of the House of Representatives noted.
Pelosi also added that during the meeting with her Armenian counterpart issues of economy, security and cooperation in defense were touched upon. “Rather than coming here and saying this is what we are prepared to do, we are listening to what the needs are,” Nancy Pelosi emphasized.
According to Pelosi, Armenia itself determines its relations with other subjects, but the territorial integrity, security, sovereignty and democracy in Armenia are very important to the United States. “ your interrelations with other entities is up to Armenia to decide. From our standpoint, this – territorial, security and sovereignty of Armenia, the democracy of Armenia is of value to us in America,” the head of the delegation said.
She also added that the United States, as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, is committed to the fact that the Artsakh issue cannot be resolved by military means. “ We continue to watch the situation closely, and we continue to support a negotiated, comprehensive and sustainable settlement to all issues related to the conflict,” Pelosi said.