The United States and Armenia on January 14 signed a strategic partnership agreement expanding cooperation in security and several of areas as Yerevan seeks to distance itself from traditional ally Russia, RFE/RL’s Armenian Service reported.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan signed the agreement in Washington.
The United States is “working with Armenia in the realm of security and defense, and in particular, to support its efforts to assert its independence and sovereignty over its own territory,” Blinken said at the signing ceremony.
“We are increasingly strong partners, and I think that is for the good of both of our countries, as well as the good of the region and beyond,” Blinken said, describing the agreement as a milestone in cooperation on defense, security, the economy, and democratization.
He announced that in the coming weeks, a U.S. customs and border patrol team would travel to Armenia to work with Armenian partners on developing border security capabilities.
In addition, the agreement calls for the United States to start negotiations with Armenia on nuclear cooperation in the civilian space, and Yerevan will formally join a U.S.-led coalition on defeating the Islamic State extremist group.
Armenia is formally an ally of Russia through the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), and Moscow maintains a military base in Armenia. But relations have soured over what Armenia called a failure by Russia to provide sufficient assistance when Azerbaijan in 2023 seized Nagorno-Karabakh, forcing some 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee.
Mirzoyan saluted that effort and said Armenia appreciates U.S. “steadfast support for Armenia’s independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.”
“We believe that a stable and prosperous South Caucasus is in the interest of all regional actors and the broader international community,” Mirzoyan said at the signing ceremony.
