Armenia is considering opening an embassy in Israel in order to take ties between the two countries to the “next level.” It is not, however, considering opening the embassy in Jerusalem, Deputy Foreign Minister Grigor Hovhannisyan said in an interview with the Jerusalem Post.

“For a small country like Armenia, it is very difficult to make major departures from a more traditional stance without provoking major reactions,” he said.

“For the time being there is no change in the Armenian approach about where the would-be embassy should be, but fundamentally I would not focus on that. The important thing is to gear-up the relationship.”

Hovhannisyan, who took over his position two months ago, is leading an Armenian delegation for a political dialogue with the Foreign Ministry.

He said that while Armenia would like to see Israel reciprocate by opening an embassy in Yerevan, this would not be a prerequisite to opening an Armenian embassy in Israel. The two countries are represented in each other’s country by non-resident ambassadors.