Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan traveled to the US Jan. 14 where he met with Secretary of State Blinken and signed an agreement for a comprehensive “Strategic Partnership Commission” between Armenia and the US. “We’re establishing our US-Armenian Strategic Partnership Commission,” Blinken said. The commission will set a “framework to expand our bilateral cooperation in a number of key areas, economic matters, security and defense, democracy, justice, inclusion and people to people exchanges,” he added.
Armenia has been turning away from its relationships in the East, and last year left the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). Last week the Armenian Parliament approved a bill to begin the process of applying to join the EU. The move by the U.S. to bring this small Caucasian country, which sits on the southern border of Russia, closer into its orbit will be seen by many as having larger strategic implications. “I just want to underscore that really lays the foundation for even deeper cooperation, and it builds on our shared principles,” Blinken said during their meeting.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov responded to a question on this during his Jan. 13 press conference. “Someday, we will inevitably arrive at what Russia is saying, namely that Azerbaijan, Turkey, Iran—the countries of this region—must settle their problems with their neighbors,” he said. According to TASS, Lavrov said that he sees no problems with Armenia having contacts with Western countries, “but when countries distant from our territory, traditions, understanding of history in its non-colonial dimension say that a European Union mission will ensure security in the Syunik district, for example, I can hardly understand this,” Lavrov said.
The Secretary General of CSTO, Imangali Tasmagambetov, said of the agreement that it is Armenia’s sovereign right to have relations with anyone, but warned that it “must not create security threats for other states and international associations,” he told the News.ru portal, reported TASS.
