Pashinian, Bolton Speak By Phone

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton discussed U.S.-Armenian relations and regional developments during a phone call on Wednesday.

“We discussed issues relating to the situation in the region and bilateral relations,” Pashinian wrote on his Facebook page.

“Both Mr. Bolton and I stressed the importance of U.S.-Armenian relations for our governments,” he said. “We agreed to continue discussions on further development of our relations.”

Pashinian claimed that they did not discuss the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. He spoke with Bolton by phone the day after meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Davos, Switzerland.

Bolton singled out the Karabakh issue after meeting with Pashinian in Yerevan in October. He said Washington expects the Armenian leader to take “decisive steps” towards the conflict’s resolution “right after” his widely anticipated victory in the December 9 parliamentary elections.

Late last week, U.S. President Donald Trump congratulated Pashinian on winning the snap elections and retaining his post. In a congratulatory message, Trump said a Karabakh settlement would facilitate closer commercial ties between Armenia and the United States.

During his visit to Yerevan, Bolton also said that normalizing relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey would enable Armenia to break “historical patterns” that have shaped its traditional foreign policy. He further indicated that Washington is ready to sell Yerevan U.S. weapons and thus reduce Russia’s “excessive influence” on Armenia.

Russia condemned those remarks, accusing the U.S. of meddling in its South Caucasus ally’s internal affairs. “We expect that the current leadership of Armenia … will have the courage to resist the unhidden external blackmail and pressure,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said last month.

Armenian leaders earlier played down the significance of Bolton’s public statements. In particular, they insisted that they have received no concrete offers to buy U.S. military hardware.