Sarkissian first Armenian official to visit Saudi Arabia, meets with Crown Prince

The President of Armenia, Armen Sarkissian, visited Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh earlier this week where he met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, making him the first Armenian official to visit the country.

“Paying a working visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” the president said in a tweet.

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“This unprecedented event is definitely a turning point in Armenia’s foreign policy as no official from Armenia has ever visited Saudi Arabia since Armenia’s independence and in the absence of diplomatic relations between Armenia and Saudi Arabia,” he added.

The President of Armenia, Armen Sarkissian, and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the FII in Riyadh. (SPA)

As of 2021, there are no official diplomatic relations between the two countries.

In his visit to the Kingdom, Sarkissian and the Crown Prince talked “about the need to develop relations between our countries,” according to the Armenian president.

“Was noted that historical ties between our nations are a good basis for building future interstate relations,” Sarkissian said in a tweet.

Armenia’s president attended the Kingdom’s fifth annual Future Investment Initiative (FII) Summit held in Riyadh.

On Wednesday, Sarkissian said he was “leaving the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and paying a working visit to the United Arab Emirates.”

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