Romania's Foreign Minister Lumina Odobescu on Thursday had a phone conversation with her Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan, and another one with her Canadian counterpart Melanie Joly.

According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry (MAE), Odobescu had a telephone conversation with Armenia's Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan at the initiative of the Armenian side, in which they tackled security developments in the South Caucasus region and the state of play in the bilateral relations between the two countries.

Odobescu pointed out the positive developments in the bilateral dialogue and reconfirmed Romania's support for the development of the relationship between Armenia and the European Union.

Regarding the situation in the South Caucasus, the Romanian official welcomed the mediation efforts of the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, and voiced support for the peaceful solution, through dialogue, of all pending issues, in compliance with the principles and rules of international law , including the provisions of international humanitarian law.

Also on Thursday, Odobescu had a telephone conversation with her Canadian counterpart, Melanie Joly. The two ministers pointed out the very good state of bilateral relations between Romania and Canada, as well as the objective of further deepening them.

During the conversation, it was emphasised the excellent co-operation in various files of bilateral interest, such as energy co-operation, security and defence, and the promotion of human rights. Also, the two ministers highlighted the joint commitment of Romania and Canada to providing sustained support to Ukraine and Moldova, both amidst efforts to combat the effects of Russia's war in Ukraine, and in support of the European path of the two countries.

The head of Romanian diplomacy presented the recent regional security developments, the actions already carried out or considered to reduce the negative effects of Russia's aggression against Ukraine with regional and global impact, and voiced interest in continuing co-operation with Canada in putting in practical solutions to the problems faced by the Black Sea region.

Odobescu also mentioned Joly's fruitful visit to Bucharest in 2022, the recent contacts between Romania and Canada and voiced interest in further strengthening the high-level political dialogue agenda.

Joly praised Romania for its action in terms of ensuring grain transit from Ukraine to third countries, especially in the difficult context generated by Russia's decision not to extend the validity of the UN Black Sea Grain Initiative . AGERPRES (RO - author: Georgiana Tanasescu; EN -author: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu, editor: Cristina Zaharia)