YEREVAN (ARMENPRESS)—A high-level official from the US Department of Defense was in Yerevan Thursday meeting with Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian and Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian for talks on military cooperation, reported the Armenian Presidential press service.
Wallander, who was accompanied by US Ambassador to Armenia Marie Yovanovitch, US military attaché in Armenia, Deputy Colonel Robert Webster, and a number of high-ranked embassy officials, said she was in Armenia to gain a “better understanding” of the country’s priorities in the area of Defense, Sarkisian’s press office said.
The Armenian President described Armenian-US relations as “warm and friendly” and said he was interested in seeing them deepen further. “Armenia highly assesses the assistance provided by the United States since the independence of our country,” the president said. “We also highly assess the efforts of the United States directed toward the establishment of stability and peace in our region.”
Wallander also highly assessed Armenia’s contributions to peacekeeping efforts in US-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The US Defense official earlier in the day visited Armenia’s peacekeeping brigade, scheduled to depart for Afghanistan in February. Sarkisian’s press office said she was impressed with their abilities and level of readiness.
Sarkisian bolstered Armenia’s peacekeeping track-record during the meeting and underscored the country’s ability to “contribute to the consolidation of international security.” The two are reported to have discussed regional issues.
Wallander held similar talks with Defense Minister Ohanyan, during which the two discussed Armenia’s upcoming peacekeeping mission to Afghanistan and the level of military cooperation between their two countries.
They should be over in turkey asking them why are they making a sucker out of the U.S. No wonder we have lost respectability around the world. Stupid politicians.