Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan meets outgoing U.S. envoy, hails ‘strategic’ relations

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met the outgoing U.S. ambassador Kristina Kvien at his office in capital Yerevan on Wednesday (7 January), according to a statement released by his office.

According to the statement, Pashinyan thanked Kvien for “contributing to the consistent development of cooperation and Armenia-U.S. relations.”

He went on to assert that “during Ms. Kvien’s tenure [in Yerevan], relations between the two countries were elevated to a strategic level.”

In January of last year, Armenia signed a strategic partnership agreement with the United States. 

At the time, the U.S. State Department said the partnership deal would establish “new avenues” for bilateral cooperation in the economic, security, and defence fields.  

The agreement was signed in Washington by Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and Antony Blinken, who was then serving as U.S. Secretary of State. 

Mirzoyan claimed at the time that U.S.-Armenia ties had “matured to a point where upgrading them to a strategic partnership is not only fitting but essential for navigating the complex geopolitical landscape.”

At their meeting on Wednesday, Pashinyan and Kvien also reportedly discussed the planned implementation of the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP).

First proposed last summer, the TRIPP project is a land corridor, which, if completed, would link mainland Azerbaijan to its Nakhchivan exclave via Armenia’s southern Syunik province.

Last August, the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a U.S.-endorsed joint declaration aimed at ending decades of tension between the two South Caucasus countries.

Hosted by U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Pashinyan also signed a second agreement paving the way for the implementation of the TRIPP corridor project with U.S. assistance.

• Armenia to begin TRIPP construction in second half of 2026

In recent remarks to the American Chamber of Commerce in Armenia, Kvien said that the TRIPP corridor would serve to “open trade routes and reconnect Armenia to the global market.”

“TRIPP not only advances regional interconnectivity, it allows Armenia to choose among an array of partners for imports, exports, and joint ventures,” the ambassador added. 

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