Outgoing U.S. Secretary of States Antony Blinken and Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan signed the charter of a newly established U.S.-Armenia Strategic Partnership Commission in Washington on January 14. Blinken described it as a “framework to expand our bilateral cooperation in a number of key areas,” including defense and security.
Some Armenian analysts have cautioned against excessive expectations from the document, saying that it does not commit the United States to giving Armenian security guarantees or military aid. They have also questioned its significance for the Trump administration whose top foreign policy priorities do not include the South Caucasus. Administration officials have made no public statements on the issue so far.
Speaking in the Armenian parliament, Pashinian claimed that the charter would not have been signed had the incoming U.S. administration opposed it.
“The subtlety is that the previous administration participated in the signing of this document as much as the new administration signed it … That's their political culture,” he said, answering a question from a pro-government lawmaker.
Pashinian met with U.S. Vice President JD Vance at the White House last week at the end of a four-day visit to Washington which prompted questions from his domestic critics. Some of them dismissed it as a hapless attempt to forge ties with the Trump administration. They pounced on the fact that the meeting with Vance was not planned in advance and did not seem to follow diplomatic protocol.
Pashinian admitted on Wednesday that the meeting was “unscheduled.” But he called it “very important and very productive.” He gave no details of his “detailed conversation” with Vance.
The Armenian government has been seeking to deepen ties with the U.S. and the European Union amid a deepening rift with Russia, Armenia’s longtime ally. Pashinian said in Washington that he remains committed to “diversifying our foreign relations in all fields.”