Ukrainian Foreign Minister started official visit to Armenia

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Anatoliy Zlenko started his official visit to Armenia today.

Discussion of wide range of Armenian-Ukrainian trade-economic relations will be the midpoint of the negotiations of Ukrainian Foreign Minister with the Armenian President, parliamentary Speaker, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister. Signing some intergovernmental documents will take place in Armenian Foreign Ministry. Anatoliy Zlenko will lay down flowers to the Memorial of victims of the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey in 1915, visit the Holy See of Echmiadzin and take part in opening ceremony of Ternopol Academy of national economy in Yerevan. According to press service of Armenian Foreign Ministry, diplomatic relation between Armenia and Ukraine were established on December 25, 1992. About 50 agreements and contracts in spheres of health protection, trade-economic, scientific-technical, cultural and customs were signed since that time. Armenian-Ukrainian relations are on high level now, however the Armenian Foreign Ministry considers that Ukraine shows much restraint owards some main foreign political issues of Armenia.

Ukraine stands on positions of peaceful political solving the Karabakh problem. Kiev repeatedly declared its readiness of participating in the process of settling in case of appropriate decision of OSCE and consent of Armenian and Azeri sides. Ukraine proceeds playing an important role in GUUAM group (Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Moldova), while considering it as structure of economic cooperation and excluding military interaction. GUUAM future is connected with establishing the free trade zone, Leonid Kuchma believes.

Yerevan and Kiev coincide in opinion that the level of bilateral Armenian-Ukrainian economic relations does not correspond to the economic potential of the two states. As unbiased reasons lack of common border and mutual problems in the sphere of cargo transportations are named.