US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed support for Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan during a brief refuelling stopover at Yerevan's Zvartnots airport on Tuesday (26 May), less than two weeks before the parliamentary elections on 7 June.
During the stop, Rubio met with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan. Speaking next to Mirzoyan, Rubio said: “Both yourself and the prime minister and your entire team here in Armenia are blazing the trail towards a brighter and more independent future for Armenia.”
Rubio added: "I am very happy to be here to show my support for their courage, my support for their vision, my support for their dedication, my support for their willingness to see for the future of their country and what it takes to get there.”
During Rubio’s visit, the leaders initialed an agreement on the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity. The proposed 43-kilometer road-and-rail corridor through Armenia would link Azerbaijan to its Nakhchivan exclave while opening a new east-west trade artery bypassing Russia and Iran.
The transit route is part of a peace agreement brokered by US President Donald Trump in August 2025 between Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
"This agreement marks the biggest step to date on making this historic route a reality, on advancing peace and on increasing prosperity in Armenia and frankly in the region," Rubio said.
After the initialing, Rubio said that he was “pleased to further advance President Trump’s vision of the future courageous path towards peace in the South Caucasus.”
The two foreign ministers also renewed a “strategic partnership charter” between the two countries as well as a memorandum of understanding on critical minerals.
Foreign Minister Mirzoyan used the visit to underline Yerevan's growing alliance with Washington.
"It would not be an exaggeration to say that we have entered a historically unprecedented stage, given the frequent and regular developments in our bilateral agenda,” he said.
Source: commonspace.eu with RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty and Euronews
