Armenian PM's US trip misses the mark, political analyst claims

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's recent visit to the United States has been labelled as a “false start” by political scientist Suren Sargsyan.

Speaking on the "Trajectory" program, Sargsyan shared his insights, noting that the true measure of a visit lies in its outcomes  — specifically whether the visiting party achieves its goals or returns empty-handed, Caliber.Az reports referring to Armenian media.

"I think we are dealing with the second case," he stated.

Sargsyan explained that Pashinyan's visit to the US seemed to have aimed at gauging whether he could expect the same level of political support from the United States under the new administration as he had during President Biden's tenure.

However, according to Sargsyan, Pashinyan never received a clear answer. “I think he never got an answer to that question," he remarked, adding that Pashinyan's inability to meet with key US political decision-makers highlights this.

“The institution of the US vice presidency is not the body that makes key policy decisions. The vice president does what the president instructs him to do,” Sargsyan elaborated.

Even the meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris, Sargsyan noted, was merely ceremonial. He said, “It was not a working meeting, and the American side did not attach any special importance to it.” He further pointed out that when important discussions occur between leaders, they are typically covered by the press, with formalities such as flag displays being observed. "The Armenian side had meetings with US vice presidents in different periods, and if we analyze them, the difference is obvious."

Sargsyan believes that the Armenian side made multiple requests for meetings with top US officials, including President Joe Biden, but was turned down. “That meeting was denied, citing the president's busyness, as Benjamin Netanyahu was visiting Washington during the same period," Sargsyan noted.

The political analyst concluded that many of these requests were likely denied due to the newly appointed US administration still defining its positions on key issues.

"From this point of view, the visit was, in fact, a false start if the goal was to understand the US position on the situation in the region and in relation to the current government," he concluded.

By Tamilla Hasanova