“We highly appreciate the position of the United States in supporting the territorial integrity, sovereignty and democracy of the Republic of Armenia, which was demonstrated in practice in 2021-2022,” Pashinian said in a congratulatory message to Biden publicized by his press office.
“We also highly appreciate the U.S. efforts to establish lasting and sustainable peace in the South Caucasus, normalize Armenia-Azerbaijan relations, and address the rights and security of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh,” he wrote.
Pashinian also praised the current state of U.S.-Armenian relations, saying that they are based on “mutual trust between our governments.”
In recent months, the United States has stepped up its involvement in negotiations on an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty. The U.S. State Department hosted two rounds of marathon talks between the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers in early May and last week.
Later in May, Pashinian expressed readiness to recognize Azerbaijani sovereignty over Karabakh through that treaty. His statement was hailed by a senior U.S. official but strongly condemned by Karabakh’s leadership and the Armenian opposition.
A few days later, the State Department welcomed Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s offer of “amnesty” to Karabakh’s leaders conditional on their “surrender” to Baku. The move prompted criticism from not only the authorities in Stepanakert but also the Armenian Foreign Ministry.
A senior Karabakh lawmaker said on Monday that Karabakh’s leadership turned down last month a U.S. offer to meet with Azerbaijani officials in a foreign country for talks on the Armenian-populated region’s “integration” into Azerbaijan. Washington had not reported such offers.