Erika Olson: The United States stands ready to assist in the speedy  settlement of humanitarian issues in the South Caucasus region

ArmInfo. The United States stands ready to assist in the speedy settlement of humanitarian issues in the South Caucasus region. Deputy Assistant Secretary in  the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs at the U.S. Department of  State  Erika Olson stated this during a meeting with Armenian Deputy  Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan. 

US Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Andrew Schofer, Deputy Assistant  Administrator (DAA) in the Bureau for Europe and Eurasia at USAID  Alexander Sokolowski, US Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary  to Armenia Lynne Tracy and other officials also attended the meeting. 

Welcoming the guests, the Deputy Prime Minister highly appreciated  the US assistance to Armenia and presented the main problems facing  the country in the post-war period. In this context, Mher Grigoryan  stressed that, despite the existing challenges, Armenia managed to  maintain macroeconomic stability.

Touching upon the process of settling the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,  the Deputy Prime Minister stressed the role of the OSCE Minsk Group  co-chairmanship and noted the importance of intensifying negotiations  within the framework of this process. Mher Grigoryan called the  release and return of Armenian prisoners of war and other captured  citizens to their homeland a key issue.

According to the source, during the meeting, the interlocutors  stressed the importance of implementing programs aimed at combating  corruption and strengthening democratic values. 

The effective cooperation with the United States Agency for  International Development was highly appreciated. 

During the meeting, issues related to regional significance and  bilateral relations were raised.