By Emmanuel Bobby
Vice President JD Vance arrived in Armenia on Monday, marking the first time a sitting U.S. vice president or president has visited the country. The visit comes as the Trump administration works to advance a U.S.-brokered peace effort aimed at ending a decades-long conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, while also promoting new economic and security partnerships with Yerevan.
During his visit, Vance and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed an agreement to push forward negotiations on a civil nuclear energy partnership. Vance also said the United States is prepared to export advanced computer chips and surveillance drones to Armenia and invest in the country’s infrastructure, signaling a broader effort to deepen economic and technological ties between the two nations.
The trip follows an August meeting at the White House, where Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed agreements reaffirming their commitment to a future peace treaty. Although the treaty text was initialed by the countries’ foreign ministers — indicating preliminary approval — it has not yet been formally signed by the leaders or ratified by their parliaments.
“Peace is not made by cautious people,” Vance said during the visit. “Peace is not made by people who are too focused on the past. Peace is made by people who are focused on the future.” He is scheduled to travel to Azerbaijan on Tuesday as part of the diplomatic push to secure a lasting agreement.
A central element of the August deal is the proposed creation of a major transit corridor, dubbed the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, which would connect Azerbaijan to its autonomous Nakhchivan exclave. The route would pass through a narrow strip of Armenian territory and has long been a major sticking point in negotiations over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
The conflict over the Karabakh region, internationally known as Nagorno-Karabakh, lasted nearly four decades. The territory had been controlled by ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since 1994, but Azerbaijan regained parts of the region during a six-week war in 2020. In September 2023, Azerbaijan launched a rapid offensive that forced separatist authorities to surrender, leading to the exodus of most of the region’s roughly 120,000 Armenian residents to Armenia.
Vance said he endorsed Pashinyan in upcoming elections and highlighted Armenia’s long Christian heritage, calling it one of the world’s oldest Christian nations. Pashinyan, in turn, expressed gratitude to President Donald Trump and Vance, noting that he had accepted an invitation to attend the first meeting of Trump’s Board of Peace on Feb. 19 in Washington. The group is overseeing the ceasefire framework in Gaza.
Pashinyan described Vance’s visit as “of truly historic and symbolic importance,” adding that it reflects the deepening strategic partnership between Armenia and the United States.
The vice president and his wife, Usha, arrived in Yerevan after spending four days in Milan with their family during the Winter Olympics. They were welcomed with a red carpet, an honor guard and a delegation of Armenian officials. Armenian and American flags lined the streets as the motorcade traveled to the meeting venue, with some demonstrators visible along the route — including one holding a sign reading, “Does Trump support Devils?”
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