Wednesday, July 13 2016 04:38

Armenia's Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan, who is on a working visit in Lithuania, held a meeting with his Lithuanian counterpart Juozas Olekas on July 12.

The press-service of the Armenian Defense Ministry has told ArmInfo that during the meeting the sides discussed prospects for cooperation between the two countries in defense field and the main programs, implemented within the plan of Armenia-NATO partnership. The interlocutors touched upon the current stage of negotiations between Armenia and the EU and the possibilities for cooperation within Eastern Neighborhood program. The sides mutually stressed the necessity to exchange experience between the defense ministries of the two countries, within which the representatives of the Armenia's Armed Forces will continue refresher training in the military institutes of Lithuania. Cyber security and peacekeeping were mentioned as prospective fields for cooperation. 

Ohanyan and Olekas exchanged opinions related to the problems of security in the regions adjacent to Armenia and Lithuania including the settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh problem.  The Defense Minister of Armenia presented the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh after the April aggression initiated by Azerbaijan. Olekas in turn expressed concern related to unprecedented escalation of the situation in the zone of conflict in April this year. He expressed condolences to those, who suffered from the situation and stressed that there is no alternative to peaceful settlement of the conflict. 

On the same day Ohanyan held meeting with Lithuania's Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius and discussed prospects of bilateral cooperation with him. 

The interlocutors also touched upon the negotiation process on peaceful settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict. The Lithuanian Foreign Minister expressed support to negotiation process within the OSCE Minsk Group. He also stressed the importance of pos