By Zhanna Avagyan
Armenia’s Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said that Armenia and the United States will sign a strategic partnership agreement in the coming days. While numerous claims have emerged in Armenian media suggesting this document would provide security guarantees to Armenia, political analysts interviewed by CivilNet emphasize the document’s importance but caution against such security expectations.
“We have a strategic dialogue that we agreed to elevate to a strategic partnership. There are documents under discussion about this, of course. That’s what follows from this announcement. A meeting is also planned. As for the outcome, if you follow the news, you’ll see,” Mirzoyan said at his January 8 press conference. He did not specify when or where the delegations from the two countries would meet.
The U.S. State Department told Voice of America that Washington “has nothing to consider or announce at this time” regarding the document’s signing.
Tigran Grigoryan, a political analyst and director of the Regional Center for Democracy and Security in Yerevan, says it’s a significant document that elevates Armenian-American relations to a new level and reflects the progress made in bilateral ties over the past two years. “At a practical level, the document will create new opportunities to strengthen relations across various strategic directions,” he explains.
Political analyst Suren Sargsyan notes that both the document’s signing and its intended actions are essential: “Signing a document is not an end in itself; there must be specific actions, concrete programs, and strategic steps under the document. And in this regard, much depends on us.”
Why is the document being signed now? According to Grigoryan, the outgoing U.S. administration is trying to complete the process before January 20, President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration. However, Mirzoyan stated that Armenia already has connections with the president-elect’s team as well.
The United States had signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Armenia’s neighbor Georgia in 2009, but Georgia lost this status in the summer of 2023 due to internal political developments.
The U.S. has not signed a similar document with Azerbaijan. “In Azerbaijan’s case, there is no serious process. Moreover, there is currently a serious crisis in Azerbaijani-American relations. The Azerbaijani authorities are pinning their hopes for normalizing relations on Trump,” says Grigoryan.
The analysts consider claims in Armenian media about the document containing security guarantees unfounded. “Strategic cooperation is completely different, and no military component exists here. This should not be confused with being a ‘U.S. strategic ally,'” explains Sargsyan.
The launch of the Armenian-American strategic partnership was announced last June during U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James O’Brien’s visit to Yerevan. A joint statement highlighted support for Armenia’s economic and energy resilience, security and law enforcement sectors, and promotion of justice and democratic institutions. Regarding defense, it only mentioned “the important role of U.S. assistance to Armenia’s defense transformation and law enforcement development initiatives, which the United States intends to continue to support through advisory programs, military-to-military contact activities, professional military education opportunities through the International Military Education and Training (IMET) program, and the long-standing State Partnership Program with the Kansas National Guard.”
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