Ukraine - Armenia Relations
The first contacts between Armenians and the people, who resided on the territory, which is now Ukraine, have known since the days of Tsar Tigran II the Great and Mitridat IV Eupator, King of Pont, in 200-100 B.C. Later in fifth to sixth centuries A.D. Byzantine Emperors of Armenian ancestry stationed the Armenian soldiers in the regions adjacent to their empires, including Crimea.
After the occupation of Armenia by Seljuk Turks in 11th century A.D., the Armenians immigrated to Crimea. They settled mostly in the mountainous southeastern side of Crimea – Kaffa (Feodosiya) and Sudak.
On the other hand, the first Ukrainian settlement on the Armenian territory appeared in 19th century, when Russian tsarist government decided to resettle “maloros kozaks” (a Russian pejorative term for Ukrainians) from Poltava and Chernihiv provinces to Transcaucasia.
Today the Armenian Diaspora is concentrated mainly in the Donbas, Kyiv, L’viv and Kharkiv regions. Ukrainians in Armenia primarily reside in the cities of Yerevan, Vanadzor, Hyumri, Igevan and Dilizhan.
The history of relations between the Ukrainian and Armenian nations is filled with the examples of mutual help: thousands of Armenians fought for liberation of Ukraine from Nazi occupation during the World War II. Later Armenians rendered assistance in eliminating the consequences of Chornobyl nuclear disaster. Ukrainians, in turn, did not leave Armenians to the mercy of fate at the time of terrible earthquake of 1998.
The diplomatic relations between Ukraine and the Republic of Armenia, as independent states, were established on December 25, 1991.
The Embassy of the Republic of Armenia in Ukraine was opened in January 1993, and in September 1996 Ukraine inaugurated its Embassy in Armenia.
Now 51 bilateral agreements are currently in force (five signed by the heads of states, 21 – intergovernmental, 21 – interdepartmental and four – interregional agreements). The Agreement on Friendship and Cooperation between Ukraine and the Republic of Armenia, signed in May 2002, is a fundamental agreement of Ukrainian-Armenian Relations.
President of the Republic of Armenia, Mr. R.S.Kocharyan, visited Ukraine in March 2001; President of Ukraine, Mr. L.Kuchma, made a return visit to Armenia in October 2002. The fulfillment of understandings between the Presidents of both countries, which were reached during their visits, encourages further intensification of mutual relations.
The continuation of bilateral political dialogue and initiation of various contacts between the sides, mutual support on an international level, development of cooperation on the regional level, European and world organizations are the factors, which characterize bilateral Ukrainian-Armenian relations in political sphere.
Mutual interest in maintaining relations in trade and economic spheres, striving for strengthening constructive interplay on the international scene, are the positive signs of the development of political cooperation between two countries.
The status and prospects for trade and economic cooperation is defined by the agreement between Ukraine and the Republic of Armenia on economic cooperation for 2001-2010. The long-run program of trade and economic cooperation foresees implementing mutually-beneficial relations in all spheres.
The volume of trade between the two countries is rising with each from year. In 2003 its value amounted (US)$59.7 million. Among the products well known to Armenians are those of metallurgical industrial complex “Kryvorizhstal”, JSC “Dniproshina”, JSC “Kup’yansk dairy plant”, “J.T. International Ukraine”, “Phillip Morris Ukraine”.
At the same time, at the third meeting of the Joint Ukrainian-Armenian intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation, which took place during the official visit to Ukraine of prime minister of the Republic of Armenia, Mr. A.Margaryan, in May 2004, both parties emphasized that the current level of the bilateral international commerce does not satisfy any of them. This fact is expected to encourage businessmen of both countries to find new forms of interaction.
In view of Ukraine’s location in the middle of transportation lanes, the exploitation of communications, which connect Armenia with the European countries through Ukrainian territory, is one of the priorities of Ukrainian-Armenian relations. The ferry “Illichivsk-Poti-Batumi” is of great importance in this regard.
Well-maintained collection of bilateral agreements promotes the development of contacts in humanitarian sphere. They are developing most energetically in spheres of culture, education, cooperation with nongovernmental organizations, guaranteeing of cultural, educational and informational needs of both countries’ diaspora. A great example of cultural cooperation between two countries was the publication in Ukraine of “The book of tragedies” by G.Narekatsy (translated by M.Nesterchuk) and the Armenian folk epos “Davyt Sasountsi” (translated by V.Kochevskyy). Both books were published in Ukrainian language in 2004 in Ukraine.
Mutual interests unite Ukraine and Armenia and this makes it possible to forecast further intensification of the Ukrainian-Armenian cooperation.
