US Ambassador: Armenia`s participation in international peacekeeping  operations is a real criterion for the growing importance of the  country. 

ArmInfo. Armenia's participation in peacekeeping operations in Afghanistan, Kosovo,  Lebanon is a real criterion of the growing importance of Armenia and its contribution to international diplomacy. This was stated in an interview with Radio Liberty by US Ambassador to Armenia Richard Mills.

"Our  military cooperation is much broader than with the Armenian  peacekeeping brigade. We are focused on a wide range of cooperation  with the Armenian armed forces. We focus on three broad spheres.  First, this is our financing program in the military sphere. Since  2002, when our military cooperation really deepened, we allocated $  49 million to purchase equipment for the Armenian armed forces, from  personal protective equipment to radio communication and medical  equipment. We have an international military training program, and  since 2002 we have provided $ 7.5 million for training 200 Armenian  officers, warrant officers and civil servants of the Armenian Defense  Ministry in US military institutes and academies from the National  Military College to the College of the General Staff. And, finally,  the third component of cooperation is the humanitarian assistance  program. Primarily through the Kansas National Guard, our military  humanitarian aid organizations are arriving in Armenia and are  carrying out repairs to orphanages, schools and improving the supply  of water to human settlements. Since 2002, we have allocated $ 5  million for these programs, "the diplomat said.