Erika Olson, the newly appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, will travel to Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia to promote regional cooperation and discuss bilateral issues. While in Yerevan, DAS Olson will participate in a regional Chiefs of Mission meeting in November 2-4, joining U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Lynne M. Tracy, U.S. Ambassador to Georgia Kelly C. Degnan, and U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan Lee Litzenberger, as well as Senior Advisor for Caucasus Negotiations Andrew Schofer and USAID Deputy Assistant Administrator Alexander Sokolowski.
We are excited to resume this long-standing tradition and gather with our colleagues from the region and from Washington, DC, to exchange ideas and information to better coordinate our policy in respect to all three countries in the region. The participants will engage in internal discussions as well as informational meetings with representatives of the Armenian government and civil society. Most recently, U.S. Embassy Baku and U.S. Embassy Tbilisi hosted regional Chief of Mission meetings in 2019 and 2018, respectively.