(Adnkronos) – Italy and Armenia want to bolster bilateral trade, development aid and cultural and infrastructure cooperation especially in the rail sector, deputy foreign minister Edmondo Cirielli and counterpart Vahan Kostanyan agreed on Tuesday.
During Italy-Armenia political consultations at the foreign ministry in Rome, which Cirielli and Kostanyan co-chaired, both delegations underlined the need to further buttress bilateral trade, which topped 415 million euros in value terms last year, the foreign ministry said in a statement after the meeting.
The Italian and Armenian delegations also agree “to explore additional opportunities for cooperation in infrastructure connectivity, particularly in the railway sector,” the statement added.
Armenia was identified among Italy’s priority partner countries for cultural cooperation and development aid, the statement said.
“The meeting reviewed bilateral relations with Yerevan in the broader context of Italy’s commitment to the stabilisation of the South Caucasus,” said the statement.
Cirielli underscored the importance of Armenia pursuing the peace process initiated with Azerbaijan (over the mainly Armenian-inhabited Noagorno-Karabakh region), over which Italy “maintains ongoing dialogue at all levels,” he said.
It is also vital for Armenia to consolidate its relations with the European Union, Cirielli said, according to the statement.
The bilateral consultations followed foreign ministerial and deputy foreign ministerial talks last year which came after Italy’s president Sergio Mattarella and Armenian head of state Vahagn Khachaturyan’s meeting in Rome in July 2023, the statement noted.
