On March 21, Armenia's Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan received Ivan Kukhta, Ambassador of Ukraine to Armenia, at the latter’s request.

Kukhta presumably conveyed his government's displeasure over a recent pronouncement by Armenian President Sargsyan that the recent referendum in Crimea was an "expression of self-determination".

During the meeting, Kocharyan reaffirmed that Armenia’s principled stance on the right to self-determination is unaltered and that it has been expressed on numerous occasions over the years. 

The Deputy Foreign Minister stated that the centuries-old relations between the friendly peoples of Armenia and Ukraine form the solid basis on which the interaction between the two countries are being built.

Photo: Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan