Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Thursday met with Vice-President J.D. Vance at the White House, in what was described as a “good” meeting by the Armenian leader.
Pashinyan was on a four-day visit to the United States to primarily attend and address the International Religious Freedom Summit.
In a short statement, Pashinyan’s office said that “issues related to Armenia-US bilateral relations, as well as the regional agenda, were discussed during the meeting.”
Vance’s office did not issue a statement about the meeting.
Later, Pashinyan posted on social media that his conversation with Vance was “introductory” in nature and qualified it as “good.”
It was unclear whether Pashinyan and Vance discussed a strategic partnership agreement that was signed by Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and then Secretary of State Antony Blinken, during the last days of the Biden Administration.
Many political circles in Armenia viewed Pashinyan’s visit to Washington as an effort to establish ties with the Trump Administration.
With Trump’s decision to essentially dismantle the United States Agency for International Development, as well as temporarily halt all foreign assistance initiatives, it remains unclear what will happen to the millions of dollars of aid promised to Armenia by the previous administration.
Pashinyan’s visit also angered many international legal and rights advocates after the prime minister said at the Atlantic Council that his government was willing to withdraw cases currently pending in international courts against Azerbaijan.
Pashinyan explained that nullifying the cases was one of two issues still not agreed on in the language of a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
