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 from the Armenian Embassy in Washington, Lilit Makunts, the first female envoy from Yerevan to the US, laid out her goals and ambitions as her country’s new ambassador.
“We are still recovering, mentally and economically, from the war,” 37-year-old Makunts said.
The ambassador spoke about the war unleashed by Azerbaijan against Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) in autumn 2020. Moving forward, 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.
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 (the first Nagorno-Karabakh War), we returned all POWs. It is ridiculous for them [Azerbaijan] to continue holding Armenian POWs,” Makunts said.
There are also Armenians who were displaced or forced to flee by Azerbaijani fighters and troops during last year’s conflict.
“Armenia is proud of its democracy,” Makunts said. “And after the war [last year], 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.
