On 16 May 2023, during the 4th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe (CoE), in Reykjavík, Iceland, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, Edgars Rinkēvičs, met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, Ararat Samveli Mirzoyan. At the meeting, the Latvian Foreign Minister presented the tasks and priorities of Latvia’s Presidency of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers, as well as hearing out the perspective of the Armenian side of developments in Karabakh and peace negotiations with Azerbaijan. The officials also exchanged views on cooperation in international organisations.
Edgars Rinkēvičs referred to the relations between Latvia and Armenia as good, and he expressed readiness to host the political consultations of the Foreign Ministries in Riga on 5 and 6 June.
The Latvian Foreign Minister expressed conviction that the interests of Latvia and the European Union lay in a safe and prosperous region of the South Caucasus. With a view to that, it is essential to normalise the relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The Minister underlined that Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine was a violation of international law and has a long-standing negative political and economic impact both at the regional and global levels. Latvia sees this as a fundamental risk to its vital national interests.