Uruguayan FM Bonasso to visit to Armenia

Uruguayan Minister of Foreign Relations Francisco Bustillo will meet with his Armenian counterpart Armen Grigoryan in Armenia today.

During his visit, Bustillo will meet with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, as well as other government officials and Catholicos Karekin II, leader of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Neither country’s foreign ministry disclosed planned topics for discussion.

The two small nations have a well-established diplomatic relationship. In 1965 Uruguay was the first nation to recognize the Armenian genocide, and Armenia’s first president following Soviet independence chose Uruguay as one of his first overseas visits. The Latin American nation also hosts a relatively sizable ethnic Armenian population after waves of immigration in the 20th century following the genocide.

Bustillo’s visit to Armenia is an example of Yerevan’s efforts to restrengthen diplomatic ties following the unsuccessful Nagorno-Karabakh war against Azerbaijan. Although substantively weak, Bustillo’s visit is positive, signaling that a loss to Azerbaijan does not equate to international abandonment. Still, Armenia needs to be able to rely on the goodwill and support of allies beyond Russia, especially as border commissions and other debates commence following the war’s conclusion. Armenia will likely look to strengthen relations with former USSR nations to build more diverse international support.