By Arshaluys Barseghyan
The translation of US Vice President JD Vance’s remarks, in which he spoke about $9 billion in funds directed toward nuclear energy in Armenia, has sparked confusion. In his speech on Monday, February 9, Vance said there would be “$5 billion in US exports, plus an additional $4 billion in support through fuel and maintenance contracts” — however, the live translation into Armenian changed “exports” to “investment.”
After meeting with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the two leaders announced plans to deepen cooperation in nuclear energy and signed a joint statement declaring that negotiations on an Armenia–US intergovernmental agreement on the peaceful use of nuclear energy had been completed.
Citing the compilation of the negotiations, Vance added that it would pave the way for US and Armenian companies “to strike deals on civil nuclear projects.”
He further suggested that the US would likely build small modular reactors in Armenia.
The mistranslation sparked confusion, apparently to the extent that journalists asked Vance a follow-up question about the same issue in a brief Q&A session right before his departure for Azerbaijan on February 10.
