Secretary of State Antony Blinken was briefed by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on his meeting with President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and President of the European Council Charles Michel in Brussels.

According to the prime minister’s press service, during a telephone conversation with America’s top diplomat, Pashinyan shared his impressions of the trilateral meeting held in Brussels on May 22, saying that he generally found the meeting to be “positive,” however, unfortunately, after the meeting, comments were made that had nothing to do with the content of the discussions.

Pashinyan was presumably referring to comments made by Aliyev, who claimed that an agreement was reached on the so-called “Zagezur Corridor,” a scheme being advanced by Aliyev to link mainland Azerbaijan with Nakhichevan through Armenia. Pashinyan, in the past, has rejected such a link, calling it a breach of Armenia’s territorial integrity.

“The Secretary of State confirmed the readiness of the US to continue supporting democratic reforms in Armenia, the settlement of the Karabakh conflict, the demarcation of the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, the opening of regional communications and the establishment of regional stability,” said a statement from Pashinyan’s office, which also claimed that “Blinken highly appreciated the efforts of the Armenian government aimed at establishing peace and stability in the region, as well as the process of democratic reforms in Armenia.”

Pashinyan and Blinken also discussed efforts to normalize relations between Armenia and Turkey.

U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Lynne Tracy meets with Syunik Governor Robert Ghukasyan on May 24 during a visit to the province

Meanwhile, Governor of Syunik Robert Ghukasyan and U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Lynne Tracy agreed to expand their cooperation and partnership following a visit on Tuesday by the American envoy to the the border region.

The governor’s office said in a press statement that Tracy explained that Embassy continued providing assistance through various U.S. government programs during what she called “a period of time full of challenges for Syunik.”

Ghukasyan hailed Tracy’s periodical visits to Syunik saying that the two discussed a number of issues regarding socio-economic developments, road construction, agriculture, diversification of economy, educational and youth issues as attempt to make advancement in the Syunik province.

Tracy emphasized the importance to develop tourism in Syunik, saying that the province has big potential which should be presented to people.