Ukraine’s ambassador to Armenia recalled to Kyiv “for consultations” last week following official Yerevan’s controversial remarks on the Crimean referendum will return next week to continue his work, according to an embassy official.
“Ukraine does not intend to sever diplomatic relations with Armenia or lower their level,” Counselor Igor Roman said on Thursday.
The embassy representative added that Ukraine’s ambassador will return to Yerevan regardless of Armenia’s vote on the draft resolution on Crimea, which was to take place at the UN General Assembly later that day.
A Foreign Ministry source told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service (Azatutyun.am) on Wednesday that Armenia was going to abstain during the vote on the document that declares Crimea’s March 16 referendum invalid.
Last week, Ukraine withdrew its ambassador to Yerevan after Armenia’s President Serzh Sarkisian effectively endorsed the referendum in Crimea in a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. The phone talk reportedly initiated by the Armenian side took place a day after Moscow and leaders of the separatist Ukrainian region signed agreements on the strategic peninsula’s becoming part of Russia in a move strongly condemned by the West.
The Armenian government was said to have sought to minimize the fallout from its controversial decision to welcome Crimea’s secession from Ukraine afterwards. German Ambassador to Armenia Reiner Morell told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service (Azatutyun.am) earlier this week that he got the understanding from his communication with Armenian officials that what Sarkisian actually discussed in his telephone conversation with Putin was Yerevan’s approach towards the right of peoples to self-determination in general.
“Ukraine does not intend to sever diplomatic relations with Armenia or lower their level,” Counselor Igor Roman said on Thursday.
The embassy representative added that Ukraine’s ambassador will return to Yerevan regardless of Armenia’s vote on the draft resolution on Crimea, which was to take place at the UN General Assembly later that day.
A Foreign Ministry source told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service (Azatutyun.am) on Wednesday that Armenia was going to abstain during the vote on the document that declares Crimea’s March 16 referendum invalid.
Last week, Ukraine withdrew its ambassador to Yerevan after Armenia’s President Serzh Sarkisian effectively endorsed the referendum in Crimea in a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. The phone talk reportedly initiated by the Armenian side took place a day after Moscow and leaders of the separatist Ukrainian region signed agreements on the strategic peninsula’s becoming part of Russia in a move strongly condemned by the West.
The Armenian government was said to have sought to minimize the fallout from its controversial decision to welcome Crimea’s secession from Ukraine afterwards. German Ambassador to Armenia Reiner Morell told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service (Azatutyun.am) earlier this week that he got the understanding from his communication with Armenian officials that what Sarkisian actually discussed in his telephone conversation with Putin was Yerevan’s approach towards the right of peoples to self-determination in general.