Yerevan, Armenia — Vice President J.D. Vance She arrived in Armenia on Monday — a country no U.S. vice president or president has ever visited — as the Trump administration looks to move forward US-brokered deal It aims to end the decades-long conflict with Azerbaijan.
The Vice President and his wife, Usha, were received with a red carpet, a guard of honor, and a delegation of officials. Armenian and American flags were hung from poles as the delegation headed to the vice president’s meeting, with some protesters standing on the side of the road, including one protester holding a sign that read, “Does Trump Support Devils?”
Vance will meet with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who signed an agreement at the White House in August aimed at reopening key transportation routes with Azerbaijan. At that meeting, countries signed agreements reaffirming their commitment to sign a peace treaty. The text of the treaty was initialed by the foreign ministers, indicating approval in principle. But leaders have not yet signed the treaty and parliaments have not yet ratified it.
Vance arrived in Yerevan after spending Four days in Milan At the Winter Olympics with his family, he plans to travel to Azerbaijan on Tuesday.
Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev are on President Donald Trump’s side New peace council. The group was originally conceived to supervise Gaza ceasefire planBut it has since expanded in size and ambition. Trump plans to hold First meeting of the Council In Washington this month.
The agreement with the two former Soviet republics calls for the creation of a major transit corridor called the Trump Path to International Peace and Prosperity. It is expected to connect Azerbaijan with the autonomous region of Nakhchivan, which is separated by a 32-kilometre-wide swath of Armenian territory.
The land bridge was a sticking point in A.’s solution The conflict lasted nearly four decades To control the Karabakh region, known internationally as Nagorno-Karabakh. The region has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since 1994. A six-week war in 2020 led to Azerbaijan regaining control over parts of the region and surrounding areas. In September 2023, Azerbaijan launched a lightning attack that forced the separatist authorities to surrender. After Azerbaijan regained full control over Karabakh, most of its 120,000 Armenian population fled to Armenia.
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Associated Press writers Josh Bock in Washington and Daria Litvinova in Tallinn contributed to this report.