Kyiv-Yerevan ties are developing well in all directions, with sufficient normative base allowing to regulate these relations, Ukrainian envoy to Armenia said, according to Armenia Now.

As Ivan Kukhta told a news conference Thursday, March 20 in reference to the recent Crimea referendum which resulted in 96.8 percent of the participants voting for joining Russia, it was held “with violation of the citizens’ constitutional rights and the law, and the international community, all the international organizations, with the exception of a few, have stated the same.”

He believes, however, that diplomatic means are not exhausted and that Ukraine is ready to negotiate with Russia, as well as with the Crimea leadership and representatives of international structures, and that Kiev is willing to reconsider expansion of Crimea’s authority.

Kukhta, however, refused to comment on the Wednesday's telephone conversation between presidents of Armenia and Russia, with Serzh Sargsyan noting that the post-referendum situation in Crimea is another example of practicing peoples’ right to self-determination through free expression of will.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Heffern said during the Thursday international conference on “NATO and South Caucasus: Strategic Approaches to Regional Security”, that the official Yerevan’s statement on Crimea is regrettable.

The envoy also spoke about the possibility of withdrawal from the CIS. “We see no point in staying part of a structure which yields no benefits. Until now, the CIS country ministers "have been too busy" to meet and discuss the Ukrainian issue,” he said.

Ukraine had also declared intention to set a visa regime with Russia, but Kukhta said Kyiv does not plan to introduce one with Armenia.

As he noted, Armenians are represented in local governance and well as state sectors of Ukraine, with bilateral relations dating back thousands of years.

In conclusion, he reiterated Ukraine’s stance backing peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh issue in the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group.

Earlier, the leader of Ukrainian parliamentary faction of Svoboda Oleg Tyagnibok stressed the need to withdraw Ukrainian ambassadors from Kazakhstan and Armenia because of their support for the referendum in Crimea, Ukrainian media report.