On July 18, Edward Nalbandian had a meeting with Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the United Arab Emirates, who arrived to Armenia on an official visit.

The meeting started with a tête-à-tête talk and continued in an enlarged format with participation of delegations.

Welcoming the guest, Minister Nalbandian noted that his colleague’s visit is taking place just few months after the visit of the President of the Republic to the UAE and the successful holding of the Armenia-Emirates business forum, and provides an opportunity to discuss the process of implementation of the agreements reached during the visit.

Ministers noted with satisfaction that the two countries have warm and friendly relations and mutually beneficial cooperation in various spheres, stressing that a small but active Armenian community of the United Arab Emirates has also contributed to this.

In the course of the conversation, the heads of Foreign Ministries of the Republic of Armenia and the United Arab Emirates discussed a wide range of issues related to further development of bilateral cooperation, namely, the expansion of the legal framework, deepening of trade and economic ties, promotion of investments and other issues. The interlocutors shared the opinion that high-level reciprocal visits and the existence of diplomatic representations in each other’s capitals contribute to the strengthening of collaboration, which, according to Minister, will be further promoted by the recently established Consulate-General of Armenia in Dubai.

Ministers Nalbandian and Al Nahyan attached an importance to the holding of regular consultations between the Foreign Ministries on the issues related to bilateral and international agenda.

The Foreign Minister of the United Arab Emirates noted that Armenia is a favourable country for tourism and recently there have been registered a considerable growth in a number of tourists from the UAE.

During the meeting the Ministers exchanged views on the urgent issues of regional and international agenda. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan briefed on the latest developments in the Arabian peninsula and the approaches of the UAE in this regard.

Edward Nalbandian presented to his interlocutor the efforts of Armenia and the OSCE Minsk group Co-Chair countries aimed at the advancement of the process of settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, stressing that the three Co-Chair countries, while speaking on behalf of the international community, continuously emphasised that the peaceful negotiation process of the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has no alternative and that the conflict must be settled on the basis of the norms and principles of the international law, in particular, the non use of force or threat of force, territorial integrity and the equality and self-determination of peoples.

Before the meeting, the Foreign Minister of the United Arab Emirates visited Tsitsernakaberd and paid tribute to the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide.