US Vice President JD Vance arrived in Armenia on Monday, becoming the first sitting US vice president or president to visit the country, as part of efforts to consolidate the recently signed peace process with Azerbaijan.
Vance held high-level talks with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Yerevan before traveling to Baku, Azerbaijan. The two leaders signed a civil nuclear energy agreement, which Pashinyan said would open a new chapter in Armenia–US energy cooperation.
At a joint news conference, Vance stated: “We are not just making peace for Armenia. We are also creating real prosperity for Armenia and the United States together.” In addition, the US announced a drone technology sale to Armenia valued at $11 million (€9.2 million).
Vance is promoting the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP), a proposed 43-kilometre corridor across southern Armenia linking Azerbaijan to its Nakhchivan exclave. The route aims to connect Central Asia and the Caspian basin to Europe, bypassing Russia and Iran, and strengthening US commercial and strategic interests in the South Caucasus.
The corridor is framed by Washington as a confidence-building measure following decades of conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. At a White House summit in August 2025, President Donald Trump mediated an agreement in which both countries renounced territorial claims and committed to peace.
Meanwhile, Armenia is gradually distancing itself from Russia, historically its closest ally in the region, by freezing participation in Moscow-led security pacts and deepening ties with the US and the EU. Russia’s influence across the former Soviet Union has been strained following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, creating new dynamics in the South Caucasus.
