Armenian Defence Minister Vigen Sargsyan received on September 21 a group of US Congress members, including Congressional Armenian Caucus co-chairs Frank Pallone and Jack Spiery, as well as congresswomen Anna Eshoo, Tulsi Gabbard and congressman Jim Sensenbrenner.

Sargsyan briefed the guests on the ongoing cooperation programs between Armenia and the US in the defence field. In particular, praising the high-level political relations between the two countries and the traditionally practical ties between the military departments, he stressed the importance of the US aid in the international peace keeping missions, the military education, the advisory and expert assistance in various fields, as well as the assistance to the reforms under way in the Armenian military.

At the guests' request, Sargsyan also spoke about the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and the line of contact between Artsakh and Azerbaijani armed forces, the militaristic policies pursued by Turkey and Azerbaijan and other issues of mutual interest.

The members of the Congress, from their part, presented the findings of their visit to Artsakh and expressed readiness to exert efforts to further enhance the Armenian-American relations and contribute to a peaceful and fair settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.