On April 23, Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia to Lebanon Samvel Mkrtchyan and academician of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia (NAS RA), Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor Ashot Melkonyan visited the central station of the Sector West of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) stationed at the Shama military settlement in southern Lebanon.

Ambassador Mkrtchyan and Professor Melkonyan met with Commander of Sector West, brigade general Ugo Chillo and General Francesco Olla, who will be assuming the command of the next shift. During the meeting, the sides discussed a broad range of issues related to the peacekeeping mission, the state of security and the partnership between the servicemen of different countries.

Afterwards, Professor Melkonyan delivered a lecture devoted to Armenian independent statehood and international recognition of the Armenian Genocide for members of the Armenian military group serving in the UNIFIL.

Ambassador Mkrtchyan touched upon the process of negotiations over the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the issues related to international law and the new military and political situation created as a result of the large-scale military aggression that Azerbaijan unleashed against Artsakh in April 2016.

After the speeches, the speakers answered questions from Armenian servicemen and watched a documentary film.