By Ani Avetisyan
Amid brewing tension between Armenia and Russia over the Nagorno-Karabakh crisis, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met for the first time in Granada today.
“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 Twitter (currently X) account.
The leaders of around 50 states gathered in Granada, Spain, this week with Pashinyan and Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliyev planning a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the EU Council President Charles Michel. The meeting got cancelled after Aliyev pulled out at the last minute, while Pashinyan decided to attend the EU-led meeting anyway
On Wednesday, Zelenskyy said he spoke with Aliyev on the phone, thanking him for his “significant humanitarian assistance.” Ukraine’s President said he voiced support for the territorial integrity of both states.
Ukraine and Armenia have a complicated relationship. Ukraine supported Azerbaijan in its conflict with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, and Armenia has long been Russia’s strategic partner. Nonetheless the two countries maintained a neutral relationship.
Armenia remained neutral in the international organisations’ votes regarding Ukraine too, by either abstaining or not taking part in the vote, with the only exception being a vote supporting Russia in the Council of Europe.
Armenia has remained mild in its position about the war in Ukraine, not directly supporting the country nor its ally, Russia. As the tensions between Armenia and Russia increased in the past months, Armenia sent its first humanitarian aid to Ukraine in September, and Nikol Pashinyan’s wife, Anna Hakobyan, took part in the Kyiv-initiated summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen in Ukraine.
Hakobyan’s visit was met with criticism in the Kremlin, with Dimitri Medvedev, the Deputy Head of Russia’s security council, blaming Pashinyan for “flirting with the West” and his wife visiting Russia’s “enemy” “with cookies”, referring to the reasons for Nagorno-Karabakh’s surrender to Azerbaijan.
Moscow has not yet commented on the Pashinyan-Zelenskyy conversation. Still, the tensions between the countries kept growing as Armenia decided to ratify the Rome Statute despite Russia’s warning of consequences. The Kremlin described Armenia’s decision as an “incorrect step”.
