What Do U.S.-Armenia Relations Look Like Under Pashinyan?

Armenia, certainly, has friendly relations with the U.S. There are no disputes between them. However, unlike their neighbors Georgia and Azerbaijan, Armenia doesn’t enjoy high-level bilateral relations. The level of meetings by U.S. officials with leaders of the three South Caucasus countries offers evidence of this.

After the election of Donald Trump over a year ago, the highest-ranking official that the President of Armenia has met was U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Bridget Brink. While President Trump welcomed the former Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili to the White House and Vice President Mike Pence arrived in Georgia last summer. President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, met Trump during the reception hosted by the U.S. President in connection with the 72nd Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York. In addition, former U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who attended the World Petroleum Congress hosted by Turkey last year, met with Aliyev in Istanbul. Moreover, within the framework of NATO’s recent summit, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and Minister of Defense Zakir Hasanov met with their counterparts from the U.S. Mike Pompeo and James Mattis.