What did Nikol Pashinyan bring with him from the US?

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan spent almost the entire past week in the United States. The formal reason for the trip was his planned participation in the International Religious Freedom Summit, during which he delivered a speech and answered questions from the moderator.

Since 2021, the IRF Summit, a key international event dedicated to the protection of religious rights and freedoms in the world, has been held annually in Washington. It was this summit that Pashinyan decided to attend. It is also noteworthy that, having studied the list of the panelists (which includes an actor, the leader of the Vietnamese Political and Religious Prisoners Friendship Association, a human rights activist, etc.), it becomes clear that there were no panelists at the summit equal in formal status to Pashinyan.

It was clear from the very beginning that the summit was just an excuse to fly to the United States. Pashinyan needed meetings with as many representatives of the new presidential administration as possible. It is also important to emphasize that, by law, US foreign policy is determined by the President and implemented by the State Department, headed by the Secretary of State. It was with these figures that Pashinyan needed to meet to understand what Trump’s priorities were in the South Caucasus region. However, both Marco Rubio and Donald Trump were “out of reach.”

The only senior administration official with whom Pashinyan managed to meet was US Vice President JD Vance. And Vance not only does not determine the country’s foreign policy, but, in general, the main constitutional function of the vice president is that he replaces the president of the United States in the event of his death, resignation or abdication. In other words, it was all for nothing.

The problems have not been resolved. Moreover, judging by the statements coming from the Russian Foreign Ministry (the most loyal structure to Pashinyan in Russia), more and more problems have arisen and the space for “geopolitical maneuver” is narrowing.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin said in an interview with Izvestia that the European Union is already demanding political loyalty from Armenia and joining anti-Russian sanctions, without promising Yerevan anything in return. The Deputy Foreign Minister also recalled that Moscow had clearly told Yerevan about the impossibility of simultaneous membership in the EAEU and the EU.

Armenia is getting closer and closer to a situation where, under the pressure of problems, it will have to respond to a number of challenges, including in the field of security. It is important, however, that a significant part of the problems that have arisen are due to Pashinyan’s personal decision not only to surrender Artsakh but also to do so in order to reset the November 9, 2020 document.
Artsakh has been surrendered, but the problems have not been solved. This is not a fun run surrounded by bodyguards…

Think about it.…