WASHINGTON -- The United States and Armenia have signed a framework trade deal aimed at boosting bilateral investment and commercial ties.
Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian attended the May 7 signing of the agreement in Washington by his foreign minister, Eduard Nalbandian, and Dan Mullaney, the assistant U.S. trade representative for Europe and the Middle East.
U.S. officials have cited a flawed business environment in Armenia as a barrier to investment in the former Soviet republic, which is a member of the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union.
According to Armenian government data, bilateral trade with the United States totaled $221 million last year, less than 4 percent of Armenia’s foreign trade.
Sarkisian was later to attend a religious service in Washington to commemorate the centennial of mass killings of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey, which Armenia and other countries -- but not the United States -- describe as "genocide."
Turkey objects to the term.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden was also set to attend the service.