On June 17, RA Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan met with US Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Richard Verma, who arrived in Armenia as part of the delegation of US mayors and representatives of local self-government bodies' first official visit.

The interlocutors discussed issues of expansion of the RA-US bilateral partnership agenda and regional developments.

Minister Mirzoyan noted that the concluding session of the RA-US strategic dialogue was held in Yerevan on June 12. "As you know, we held the 2nd concluding session of the strategic dialogue between Armenia and the USA, and this time, we not only emphasized the desire to enrich our cooperation in new directions but also made a decision to work towards a new milestone, raising bilateral relations to a new level of strategic partnership. So we are moving in the right direction, we have tangible results, and we will discuss more."

In response, Richard Verma said: "The strategic partnership is essential to the United States, and as a result of the discussions here, we want to have a clear road map on how we can make progress in the key areas of peace and prosperity, the economy, trade, people-to-people contacts, and continue our cooperation toward a new level."

The interlocutors discussed issues of Armenian-American decentralized cooperation, emphasizing the establishment and expansion of cooperation between the regions and cities of Armenia and the states and cities of the USA.

Ararat Mirzoyan and Richard Verma considered the development of Armenian-American relations in the context of strengthening the Armenian resistance. They referenced the successful course of reforms aimed at strengthening democracy and the rule of law in Armenia and the valuable US support in that direction.

In the context of regional security issues, Minister Mirzoyan presented to the interlocutor the efforts to normalize relations with Azerbaijan, including signing a peace treaty. Reference was also made to the problems of economic and transport interconnection and the opportunities provided by implementing the "Crossroads of Peace" project developed by the RA government.