New Ambassador of Armenia to US Strengthens Ties, Business Development a Top Priority

When asked whether a pivot in Armenia’s political connections was necessary after the 2024 election of President Donald Trump, he declared that these relations are institutional in nature, irrespective of whether Republicans or Democrats are in charge of the US government. Moreover, he and his predecessor as ambassador, Lilit Makunts, maintained good communications with the two American political parties, he said.

He added, “We have had cooperation with the United States over many years concerning assistance for democracy and we signed with the prior administration a charter on strategic partnership. I am happy that this administration continues to remain on the same page deepening strategic cooperation.”

Mkrtchyan stated: “We have a very direct dialogue with the United States and there is no [outside] interference. It is at a pretty high level and positive personal relations have been established between Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and US President Donald Trump. I consider the fact that on the personal level relations are very good is a very important aspect for us, but also nearly in every sphere we have involvement at the highest level by the United States.”

He did single out Trump for his efforts last summer.

“We must accept with thanks President Trump’s efforts at mediation, because he truly succeeded in obtaining the historic peace declaration in the White House. It is the result of sharing discussions, values and visions about that theme that such good relations have been established between the prime minister of the Republic of Armenia and the president of the United States. Armenia has been invited to join the Board of Peace as a founding member and we value highly the participation of the United States in various conflict situations in order to establish peace. The declaration of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan is one of the early examples of this,” he noted.

Mkrtchyan said that in nearly all US government departments where Armenia has an agenda, including the State Department and Commerce Department, there are working groups to work with Armenia so that ongoing processes do not encounter any internal bureaucratic obstacles. The members of the working groups from the Armenian side are of course from the government of the Republic of Armenia.

TRIPP and Foreign Policy

Mkrtchyan was asked in the context of recent developments whether Armenia needs a powerful state such as the US or Russia as a protector and whether closer ties with the US implied a downturn in Russian relations.

He replied: “The Republic of Armenia had for a long time needed to keep the interests of the Republic of Armenia in a central and prioritized position. We are not exchanging one ally for another. There is no such thing. TRIPP [Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity through Syunik connecting Azerbaijan to Nakhijevan] is not against any country. TRIPP is not the project of the Republic of Armenia against Russia. TRIPP is not a project of the Republic of Armenia against Iran. This is a project arising from the interests of the Republic of Armenia.”

He explained that following the 2020 war with Azerbaijan, Armenia declared it was going to balance its foreign policy and diversify its supply chains, energy policy and defense cooperation. Now, Armenia partners with various different countries to ensure its defense security, he said, including the US, India, France and others, always stemming from the interests of Armenia. He remarked that Pashinyan has declared that being more independent means being dependent on several countries instead of just one.

Mkrtchyan dismissed concerns about whether Armenia has any real guarantees of security or protection if the US war with Iran expands regionally or if local incidents of terrorism on TRIPP by any instigators from outside countries take place after TRIPP is operational. He said: “I would not in reality seek possible scenarios, and pessimistic ones in particular, because there is peace at this time in the Republic of Armenia. This true peace is felt by the people of the Republic of Armenia, including the people living at the borders, the ordinary citizens of the Republic of Armenia. In other words, we have not had any shootings, wounded or deaths at the border for an extended period of time…We have begun a dialogue with Azerbaijan. Certain economic relations have been established. Civil society representatives have exchanged reciprocal visits. All these steps aim at peace for Armenia, when the two sides have the political will to move forward to establish an agenda of peace.”

He said that any activity of TRIPP, including any type of risk, will be governed by Armenian jurisdiction, and this principle is placed at the foundation of all relevant documents, which include the principles of territorial integrity and sovereignty. He emphasized that while hoping for a quick end to the Iran-US conflict, “one thing is a fact — on the territory of the Republic of Armenia there is no worry, there is no military activity and there are no targets subject to attack.”

TRIPP has not been postponed due to the Iran war, he added. As a very large project, there have been a series of steps planned for its implementation which take a long time. He said, “It is not just an infrastructure project. It is not just constructing a road or a railway. There are many profound layers.”

TRIPP is one part of Armenia’s Crossroads of Peace project, Mkrtchyan said, so that it is not only about establishing ties between Nakhichevan and Azerbaijan or Armenia-US bilateral agreements. It is also about connecting several broader regions to each other through global supply chains. It can help connect Central Asia to the southern Caucasus, and the Near East through Turkey to Europe, towards the Mediterranean. Various infrastructural projects can become part of it, including roads, railways, fiber optics, transmission wires, cables, electric transmission lines, and pipelines, but Armenia and the US will have the possibility of sharing the administration and making joint decisions, Mkrtchyan noted.

As part of the project, the TRIPP Development Company has been established, in which the governments of the US and Armenia are partners. Mkrtchyan said that they are now working on the financial structure, determining how financing and financial flows will be secured, and through which channels. He said that Armenia is in an active dialogue with the US International Development Finance Corporation (the US government’s international investment arm). Reciprocal visits have taken place between representatives of various Armenian governmental departments and American ones.

He recalled that when Vice President JD Vance visited Armenia this February, the creation of the TRIPP Enterprise Fund was discussed. This fund could extend beyond Armenia and Azerbaijan to become an interregional platform for investment and participation in projects which will be connected to TRIPP.

After the financial and legal mechanisms have been established, Mkrtchyan said, the practical construction stage will rapidly begin.

(The May 26 brief visit of US Secretary of State Rubio to Armenia took place after this interview. New documents on TRIPP were signed specifying details on the joint venture and an engineering survey was set up.)

On a different foreign relations topic, when asked about how to deal with claims by high level Azerbaijani government officials on Armenia’s territory under the name of Western Azerbaijan, and calls for Azeris to return there, Mkrtchyan responded: “I do not wish to talk now about illegitimate discourse. When we speak about illegitimate discourse, we are turning it into legitimate discourse.” He said there are no similar theses in any of the documents officially being negotiated or signed, so why create artificial agendas?

Mkrtchyan wondered, “Is it possible that this is being dictated by certain quarters? Is it not possible that these are aimed against the interests of the Republic of Armenia? It seems to me that we must be very cautious in approaching such matters.”

Corporate Diplomacy: IT and Economic Relations

The memoranda which were signed on August 8, 2025 in Washington included agreements on technology, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, energy and infrastructure. One of the priority directions for the Armenian embassy in Washington, Mkrtchyan explained, is corporate diplomacy, through which it is making active efforts to establish ties with various types of corporations and establish business associations. Attempts to establish bridges between private Armenian and American sectors are taking place at several levels.

On the administrative policy level, Armenia attempts to assure the smooth entry of American companies into Armenia, in part by softening certain regulations. This type of accommodation is necessary in the US, as Armenia is fairly flexible in its approach and welcomes the economic benefits American companies may bring, but even when capital and expertise are ready, US government permission is needed, especially for the export of technologies with strategic significance.

At the highest level, Mkrtchyan said, Armenia works with the Department of Commerce, the State Department, and the National Security Council, which can make decisions concerning the entry of American organizations, especially technology companies, into Armenia. The most significant latest example is permission for the export of artificial intelligence Nvidia chips. “Here the embassy is very involved in very difficult but fruitful work,” he continued. “We have a major project in Armenia which will turn Armenia into the fifth country in the world with such computing capabilities.”

“Would you have been able to imagine in the political context of diversification of the Republic of Armenia,” Mkrtchyan rhetorically asked, “that the United States would become an important pivotal partner and as a result of that partnership, today, as a result of the cooperation between Armenia and the United States, we would have in the region a project concerning the most advanced technology of the 21^st century, artificial intelligence, which has important strategic significance, which would give the possibility to American financial structures to make an investment of around $4 billion? This is a project which will give the possibility of converting electricity into intelligence. And the beneficiaries of this intelligence, this digital brain, will also be various structures of the United States.”

Mkrtchyan added: “Armenia is not on the map of conflicts any longer. It now appears on the map of AI.”

Aside from the governmental level, Armenia also works directly with corporations, attempting to present Armenia as a country with a suitable ecosystem and electrical energy available for data centers, Mkrtchyan said.

In Silicon Valley, for example, Mkrtchyan declared that Armenia has good relations with companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, ServiceNow, Synopsys, Nvidia, AMD, Google and Apple, and operational agendas.

These relations are not only directly economic but also concern education. He said that negotiations of the Armenian government with OpenAI and Firebird which began last November were soon concluding with an agreement to provide 50,000 educational AI subscriptions for Armenian schools and universities, and this number will increase over time (the actual agreement was signed after the interview on May 29).

Another direction of the embassy’s work, Mkrtchyan said, is to attempt to establish economic relations directly with individual states. For example, there is a treaty signed with the state of California and recently, discussions have been held with the states of Utah and Florida. Each state in the US has economic councils or structures which the embassy attempts to connect with corresponding bodies in Armenia. The government of Armenia has also established the Enterprise Armenia investment promotion agency, which encourages the activity of Armenian companies abroad and the involvement of organizations abroad in Armenia with the Ministry of the Economy.

On a different level, Mkrtchyan said, the embassy attempts to connect various local business councils or chambers of commerce in various states with Armenian business associations or the Ministry of the Economy. He gave the examples of the Miami-Dade Beacon Council, the World Trade Center Utah, and the Greater Sacramento Economic Council, with which the embassy initiated contacts.

Mkrtchyan also said that the embassy proposed that the US Chamber of Commerce establish a US Armenia Business Council within its framework, and there is hope that this will be created soon.

Outside of IT, Mkrtchyan said that another important economic field for Armenia is mining. Soon, he said, a large American company will begin work in Armenia on the largest goldmine there. During the aforementioned visit of Rubio to Armenia, the United States of America-Republic of Armenia Framework for Securing of Supply in the Mining and Processing of Critical Minerals and Rare Earths agreement was signed.

Energy is an important field for Armenia’s strategic security, Mkrtchyan said, and therefore negotiations are in progress for a framework treaty for what is called a “123 agreement” with the US concerning nuclear trade. Once it is signed, Mkrtchyan said, there will be the possibility of involving American companies in Armenia’s energy sphere, including modernizing its operating structure and making new investments in civil nuclear energy.

Mkrtchyan said that in other fields, Armenia and its embassy are working with the Commerce Department to facilitate US investments in Armenian agriculture and industry.

Relations with Armenian-American Diaspora

Mkrtchyan observed that if there are Armenians involved in companies or projects working with the Armenian government, then of course there is cooperation. He gave the example of Razmik Hovakimyan, who lives in San Francisco but cofounded Firebird AI with businessman Alexander Yesayan in Armenia. Mkrtchyan declared: “In general, if any of our compatriots are in any technology organization or business project and desire to work with Armenia, we are ready 24 hours a day to collaborate.”

However, he said that in general relations with local Armenian-American communities were not part of his responsibilities as ambassador. While there may be a perception among some that the ambassador should spend more time with the community, he said that if he did so, sadly the Armenia-United States agenda would suffer. It is the Office of the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs which is tasked with keeping relations with diasporan communities.

Nevertheless, Mkrtchyan said, taking into consideration that there is a large Armenian community in the US, contact with members is inevitable in the context of different “side events.” Aside from citizens of Armenia there are many Armenian-Americans who are interested in the Republic of Armenia and see the substance of their national identity inextricably tied to the Republic of Armenia. He said that it is a great honor to work and communicate with those for whom relations with the Republic of Armenia is an ultimate goal, though he noted with sorrow that there are others without much connection to the Armenian state.

Armenian Church

In addition to the embassy’s work on US-Armenian economic, security, infrastructure, energy, and other practical material topics, Mkrtchyan remarked that he considered two further important spheres of cooperation concerned values. One is the ongoing assistance of democratic structures in Armenia, and the second concerns cooperation about Christian ethics.

He said that Armenia enjoys a very good collaboration with the White House’s Faith Office. The latter participated in this January’s embassy reception on the occasion of Christmas at the highest levels. The director of the Faith Office, Paula White-Cain came, along with the Primates of the two Echmiadzin Armenian Dioceses in the US.

Armenia also has good working relations with US government bodies dealing with issues of religious freedom, he said. They consider the Republic of Armenia an important partner in establishing a platform for religious freedom.

Mkrtchyan observed that it was with the assistance of the prime minister of the Republic of Armenia that the National Prayer breakfast took place in Armenia last year, and that it will again take place this October with even greater American participation.

Those relations appear to be in somewhat of a contrast to relations between the Armenian government and church. When asked about those relations currently, which include the imprisonment of a number of high level clergy and the prime minister attending services led by defrocked priests, he replied, “I must sadden you that the prime minister generally does not stand back from any agenda or his principles and the policies that he has adopted. He is always consistent and I must also say that there is no conflict, no disagreement, between the government of the Republic of Armenia and the Armenian Apostolic Church.”

He said that while the church continues to represent an important value, “what the prime minister of the Republic of Armenia is carrying out is to make the Armenian Apostolic Church more sincere [angeghdz] and more independent and keep it clean from falsehood, and, sad to say, from the immorality [aylaserutiun] of various individuals. Those processes which are taking place are absolutely about making the Armenian Apostolic Church as a structure, as an institution, stronger and more independent and to guide it towards its own mission.”

Upcoming Elections

When asked about Russian, US or European attempts to support various candidates in the current Armenian elections, Mkrtchyan replied: “Any type of foreign development which may hinder people’s expressions or assembly, no matter from which part of the world it may originate, which may obstruct the conduction of people’s democratic elections, which may obstruct free and just elections, which may aid in practices outside of the realm of the law, we consider unacceptable. We must combat this with all possible means, because the [Velvet] revolution took place in Armenia so that these defective practices will have no place in the internal life of the Republic of Armenia.”

He added that hundreds of reforms have been instituted, some of which with US cooperation, so that Armenian democratic practices and institutions take form, including the use of modern technologies.

However, he noted the use of financial means to sway people, and efforts to spread fake news and keep people in fear. He said, “I am sorry also that often this misinformation reaches all kinds of layers of our diaspora in the United States. For example, I am forced during encounters with our compatriots on all sorts of different occasions and places to refute with laughter the most absurd information which they have, and tell them that such things cannot possibly be true.”

When asked for an example, he said that in Armenia construction is flourishing, with homes and even entire quarters being built, but some people, influenced by fake news, are asking whether these homes are being built for Azerbaijanis.

Mkrtchyan said that the Armenian government has spoken about such “hybrid warfare” here with various departments in the United States, about how to control fake news and what are the best practices which can be communicated to Armenian state institutions about how to keep foreign state intervention distant from Armenian  elections.

While in his position as ambassador, Mkrtchyan did not wish to speak in detail about the current election campaigns, or any claims of use of government power to sway the vote, he did note that the Republic of Armenia had its most democratic elections in the period of the Pashinyan government, according to the evaluation of various outside governments, including Russia and  the United States.

He said, “When we speak about democracy, I do not imagine it in another way than, for example a citizen of the Republic of Armenia will have the possibility during the campaign to approach the prime minister, argue with him, even be allowed to cross the line and have a discussion of a personal nature, and nothing happens to him.”

When it was pointed out that some people had been arrested after such arguments, he said there are criminal cases in such circumstances which will be sent to preliminary investigative bodies for clarification. He stated that the state legal system is distinct from law enforcement institutions in Armenia and also noted that in many cities and villages during prior elections the opposition candidates won office and still continued to work with the central government. Furthermore, he said, independent monitoring shows that the opposition has a greater media platform or presence to  express its ideas than the governing authorities.

Finally, he said, “the elections are a fundamental political process and it is through these elections that the future of our country will be decided. That is also very much connected to the Armenian-American agenda, naturally, since with the direction that we have taken with the United States, in all aspects, it is very important for its continuation and institutionalization that the current [Armenian] administration with its foreign political vision and approaches again have the opportunity to work so these processes reach their logical conclusion.”