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“After the war, we decided that we needed to increase our diplomatic efforts in major capitals around the world”, Makunts speaks on the desire to boost ties between the US and Armenia
POLITICS
22.09.2021 | 14:08
Being on the job for just over a month, Armenia’s new ambassador to the US is eager to hit the ground running and boost ties between Yerevan and Washington. Speaking to Al Arabiya English Lilit Makunts, the first female envoy from Yerevan to the US, laid out her goals and ambitions as her country’s new ambassador.
Al Arabiya mentions that Armenia had seen an economic boom in recent years, but the coronavirus pandemic and the war with neighboring Azerbaijan in 2020 saw that surge come to a halt. “We are still recovering, mentally and economically, from the war,” Makunts said.
Referring to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Makunts said that the best way to resolve the dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan is through the OSCE Minsk Group, which is co-chaired by the US, France and Russia. “The co-chairs have been very positive about the work of the group and the need to reach a solution,” she said.
Makunts praised statements from the US State Department after the Nagorno-Karabakh war for the need for prisoners of war to be returned. “In 1994, when we won, we returned all POWs. It is ridiculous for them to continue holding Armenian POWs,” Makunts highlighted. She added that because of the actions from Azerbaijani side there are also Armenians who were displaced or forced to flee by Azeri fighters and troops, and now the Armenian government is footing the bill and providing the internally displaced with much-needed aid. “We are not asking for international aid in this matter, and it is an Armenian cause,” Makunts said and added that instead, it is asking for economic and security support in the form of peace and demarcated borders with Azerbaijan.
“Armenia is proud of its democracy. After the war, we decided that we needed to increase our diplomatic efforts in major capitals around the world. That’s what we want: peace. We’ve never initiated an attack on any country, and we don’t plan to do so,” she said.
