The results of the parliamentary elections in Armenia open an opportunity for Ukraine to expand its influence in the Caucasus region, according to Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, Chair of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Ukraine’s Integration into the EU (European Solidarity faction).
In a comment to the Interfax-Ukraine agency on Wednesday, Klympush-Tsintsadze said that she considered this a chance to strengthen ties with Armenia. She noted that it was also an opportunity to extend influence in the region, as the ability to sustain the democratic trend in Armenia would depend on the outcome of the war on Ukrainian territory.
According to her, strengthening ties between the nations should begin with appointing an Ambassador of Ukraine to Armenia.
Klympush-Tsintsadze has said that Ukraine had only maintained a chargé d’affaires ad interim there for over four years. She urged both the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and the President of Ukraine to address this matter without delay, emphasizing that raising the level of Ukraine’s diplomatic representation in Armenia would maximally revitalize mutual contacts.
She has said that the parliamentary election results in Armenia signaled a major shift in the Caucasus among nations that are important to Ukraine.
The committee chair has said that Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia were all important to Ukraine, though not all of them currently shared the values for which Ukraine is fighting. Therefore, she noted it was critically important that Armenia, which had remained strictly within the Russian orbit for over 30 years, was attempting to break free and declare a different developmental path alongside the civilized world and democratic states, directing its efforts toward convergence with the European community.
As previously reported, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party secured 49.81% of the vote in the Armenian parliamentary elections. Samvel Karapetyan’s Strong Armenia party garnered 23.29%, former President Robert Kocharyan’s Armenia Alliance received 9.94%, and Gagik Tsarukyan’s Prosperous Armenia party took 4%. The electoral threshold stands at 4% for parties and 8% for alliances. In total, the opposition received 37.23% of the vote.
Ukraine has been without an Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador to Armenia since October 2021. Since November 2023, the Ukrainian Embassy in Armenia has been headed by Chargé d’Affaires ad interim Valeriy Lobach.
