Armenia's National Security chief Armen Grigoryan (left) meets with Ukrainian president's chief of staff Andriy Yermak in Malta on Oct. 28
For decades Ukraine has allied itself with Azerbaijan to a point that Kyiv not only sent assistance to Baku during the 2020 war, it also congratulated Azerbaijan on its “victory” after the war was over.
Now official Yerevan is making overtures to Kyiv with the aim of advancing cooperation between the two countries.
Whether this is stemming from the Armenian government’s ongoing campaign to alienate Russia or it is a by-product of Armenia’s obvious tilt toward the European Union, Yerevan is keen to push forward with this agenda.
Armenia’s National Security chief Armen Grigoryan met with Ukrainian presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak on Saturday in Malta, where the two discussed ways to strengthen relations between the two countries.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan held a brief meeting with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, on the sidelines of a European Union summit in Granada, Spain, where the two reportedly discussed the security in the South Caucasus.
In announcing the meeting on Saturday, Armenia’s Embassy in Kyiv made reference to the Granada meeting.
”During the meeting the importance of the first meeting of the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was underscored, which took place on October 6 in Granada, Spain within the framework of the summit of the European Political Community,” a post on the social media platform X by Armenia’s embassy in Kyiv said on Saturday.
The embassy also said that Yermak “confirmed Ukraine’s commitment to strengthen cooperation with Armenia, particularly in European integration issues.”
“The parties congratulated each other on the election of Armenia and Ukraine to the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and discussed the cooperation of the two countries within the framework of that organization and in the field of energy in general,” reads the statement,” the Armenian embassy added in its post.
Following Pashinyan’s meeting with Zelensky on October 5 in Spain, the Ukrainian leader welcomed efforts to strengthen ties between Kyiv and Yerevan.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan meets with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine in Granada, Spain on Oct. 6
“During our first-ever meeting, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and I focused on the security situation in the South Caucasus. Ukraine is interested in the region’s stability and friendly relations with its nations. We also discussed our bilateral cooperation and interregional economic projects,” Zelenskyy wrote on his X account at the time.
Before meeting with Pashinyan, however, Zelensky held a telephone conversation with President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and reportedly thanked him for Baku’s significant humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. Zelensky also reiterated his country’s respect for the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity of the states.
The Pashinyan-Zelensky meeting in Spain was preceded by a visit to Kyiv by the Armenian leader’s wife, Anna Hakopyan, who participated in the Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen in September.
Hakopyan also brought with her Armenia’s humanitarian assistance to Ukraine’s schoolchildren, for which she was thanked by Zelensky’s chief of staff when he met with Grigoryan on Saturday, according to the Armenian embassy.
Pashinyan’s meeting with Zelensky, as well as Hakopyan’s visit to Kyiv, did not go unnoticed by Moscow.
Russian officials warned that Pashinyan was “becoming the next Zelensky” and was being influenced by the EU and the West to do their bidding in the region.
After Hakopyan’s visit to Kyiv last month, the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned Armenia’s ambassador to Russia to the foreign ministry for “difficult” talks after Armenia signed off on the “transfer of humanitarian aid to Kyiv’s Nazi regime.”