Armenia is one of more than two dozen nations, including Azerbaijan and Turkey, that have accepted Trump’s invitation to join the new body tasked with resolving international conflicts. Their leaders, including Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, signed its founding charter in Switzerland in January.
Pashinian’s cabinet formally recommended parliamentary ratification of the charter during a weekly meeting. The Armenian Finance Ministry said ahead of the meeting that Yerevan will have to finance its participation in the Board of Peace.
“I believe that the Republic of Armenia must move beyond the status of a poor relative,” Pashinian told journalists.
“Armenia has no obligations, but I think we should participate and we will participate [financially,]” he said, refusing to reveal how much his government will contribute.
A participating country must pay $1 billion for permanent membership in the Board of Peace. Otherwise, it will serve a three-year term which can be renewed at Trump’s discretion.
None of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council other than the United States has joined the initiative. Other major Western nations such as Germany and Italy have also shunned it, highlighting concerns that the U.S.-led body could undermine the work of the United Nations.
Trump claims to have ended multiple international conflicts, including the Armenian-Azerbaijani dispute, since returning to power more than a year ago. The U.S. president hosted last August talks between Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at the White House which resulted in the finalizing of an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty. Also, Pashinian pledged during those talks to open a U.S.-administered transit corridor for Azerbaijan through a key Armenian region.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance lavished praise on the Armenian premier and endorsed him ahead of Armenia’s June 7 parliamentary elections when he visited Yerevan in February. Vance said Pashinian’s reelection is essential for the launch of the transit arrangement to be named after Trump.