On July 18, the Armenian Defense Ministry reported that Major General Edward Asryan, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces - First Deputy Minister of Defense, who was in the US on a working visit, participated in the conference dedicated to the US National Guard State Partnership Program's 30th Anniversary in Washington.

Throughout the event, meetings were held with General Daniel R. Hokanson, the Chief of the National Guard Bureau, Major General Daniel Lasica, the Director for Strategy, Plans, and Policy, United States European Command, and Brigadier General Michael T. Venerdi, the Adjutant General, Commander of Kansas National Guard.

During the meetings, the current status and prospects for developing the Armenia-Kansas partnership within the program's framework and several issues related to bilateral cooperation with the United States were discussed.

On the same day, Lieutenant General Edward Asryan met with Michalis Giorgallas, the Minister of Defense of Cyprus, and Lieutenant General Demokritos Zervakis, the Chief of the Cypriot National Guard.

Moreover, Edward Asryan had meetings with Admiral Christopher W. Grady, the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and General Charles Brown, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force.

During the meetings, several issues related to the current status of the Armenia-US defense cooperation, upcoming programs, joint activities, the implementation of the concept of "Mission Command" and the professional NCOs system, opportunities for extending cooperation in the air force sphere, as well as regional security were discussed.

On July 19, Lieutenant General Edward Asryan had a short conversation with General Mark A. Milley, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Army. During the tete-a-tete talk, the importance of the State Partnership Program with Kansas was emphasized.