Minister Mirzoyan answered the questions also on regional topics. Below are the main quotes from the interview presented by the foreign ministry.

Historically we have enjoyed friendly relations with the Arab World, with all the Arab countries, and these relations have been based on traditionally, historically friendly ties between our peoples, between Arab people and the people of Armenia. And we also should remember that many Arab countries became home to Armenian refugees, the survivors of the Armenian Genocide. But of course, the cultural ties, the relations were there even before that. So in this context, it was also a little bit strange that between the Republic of Armenia and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, there were no diplomatic relations even. And in this sense, 2023 was indeed a historical year: we established diplomatic relations. And now I am visiting Riyadh, I am having meetings with the respective officials, and my colleagues here. And it is worth mentioning that the two countries, Armenia and Saudi Arabia, assure each other that this is only a start, we don’t want to stop here. There are so many areas, there are so many fields where we can deepen our cooperation, and there are so many spheres where we can explore what we can do jointly. And hopefully, after this visit a road map will emerge - a road map of the development of our relations.

I had meetings in Riyadh, not only with my counterpart, his highness the Foreign Minister but also I was received at the Ministry of Economy and Planning and the Ministry of Education where I met my counterparts, and we discussed the opportunities that emerge. And frankly, there is no limit here: education, sciences, advanced technologies, urban development, agriculture, tourism, people-to-people contacts, trade investments, infrastructure. There are so many things going on on the ground here in Saudi Arabia but also in Armenia. And of course, the future is quite promising for our cooperation.

Our vision is that we should build a very good and close cooperation with Saudi Arabia including when it comes to regional affairs, but also international fora. I would like to mention that when Saudi Arabia came up with the bid for Expo 2030, Armenia was among the countries who supported it. And by the way, this is a very good occasion to congratulate Saudi Arabia.