Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan held talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba on Saturday on the margins of the Dubrovnik Forum, held over the weekend in Croatia.
The Armenian government has been making efforts to strengthen its ties with Ukraine as it has adopted a more Westward tilting foreign policy, which has angered Russia as it continues its military campaign against Ukraine.
Armenia’s attempts to bolster ties with Ukraine come despite Kyiv’s overt and vocal support to Azerbaijan before, during and after the 2020 Artsakh War, with Baku boasting both military and financial support from the Ukrainian government.
During the meeting on Saturday, Mirzoyan and Kuleba “discussed issues related to the bilateral political dialogue, highlighting the political consultations held in Kyiv and periodic contacts in various formats,” a statement from Armenia’s foreign ministry said.
“They exchanged thoughts on issues of cooperation with the European Union and addressed regional topics,” the statement added.
Mirzoyan reportedly presented the current security situation in the South Caucasus and referred to the latest developments in the process of normalizing relations with Azerbaijan, “stressing the importance of concluding a peace treaty to ensure regional security,” the statement said.
Kuleba commented on the meeting, saying he thanked Mirzoyan for his participation in the Ukraine Peace Summit that was held last month Switzerland. at the meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, Ararat Mirzoyan.
“I thanked Armenia for attending the first Peace Summit in Switzerland and informed my counterpart about further work on implementing the Peace Formula on the path to a just and sustainable peace in Ukraine,” Kuleba said in a post on X, adding that they focused on ways to deepen the bilateral ties and international cooperation, particularly in light of Ukraine’s future EU membership.
Mirzoyan arrived in Dubrovnik on Friday and was welcomed by Croatia’s prime minister and foreign minister Andrej Plenković and Gordan Grlić-Radman.
On the margins of the the Dubrovnik Forum, Mirzoyan also met with the European Union’s outgoing foreign policy chief Josep Borrell. The two discussed the latest developments in the peace talks, according to Armenia’s foreign ministry.