The United States supports “the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence of Armenia, including its right to determine its foreign policy and international relations.” This is what a spokesperson for the US State Department declared in an exclusive comment granted to Radio Liberté.
Responding to questions about reports of foreign interference in the June 7 elections as well as warnings from several U.S. lawmakers, the State Department stressed that Armenia’s political future should not be be decided only by Armenian citizens.
“We are aware of media reports regarding attempts at external interference in Armenian political processes. The Armenian people have the right to choose their leaders and build their future,” declared the American spokesperson.
The TRIPP project at the heart of the Armenian-American partnership
The State Department also highlighted the growing importance of relations between Yerevan and Washington as well as the TRIPP project, the framework agreement for which was signed yesterday by the Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs, after having been initialed a few days earlier early by the American Secretary of State.
“The agreement is now ready to be ratified,” declared Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan.
According to the State Department spokesperson:
“As the Secretary of State’s recent visit to Yerevan demonstrated, the TRIPP project is of strategic and lasting importance in bringing peace and prosperity to Armenia and the South Caucasus. HAS”
Rubio discusses Washington’s concerns over Moscow’s actions
Earlier in the week, during a hearing before the US Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, Secretary of State Marco Rubio highlighted the Trump administration’s concerns about Russian activities in Armenia.
“The Russians are not particularly happy with our involvement,” Rubio said, adding:
“I think there is evidence that they would like to see the current Prime Minister lose the election because of the growing rapprochement with the United States. HAS”
While emphasizing that relations between Washington and Yerevan had reached an unprecedented level, Rubio insisted that the American objective was not to distance Armenia from its other partners, but to support its ability to pursue an independent foreign policy.
“To put it simply, we are not here to undermine Armenia’s sovereignty. We are not asking them to break off relations with other countries. We just want to have relationships with them. HAS”
Accusations of Russian interference
These statements come as several reports published in recent weeks claim that Western intelligence services and officials have noted an intensification of Russian efforts aimed at preventing the re-election of Nikol Pashinyan.
According to a survey published at the end of May by Reuters, Moscow fears that a Pashinyan victory would further strengthen Armenia’s rapprochement with the West, further weakening Russian influence in the South Caucasus.
Based on documents and the testimonies of five Western intelligence officials, Reuters affirmed that a Russian campaign would have aimed to strengthen the position of candidates considered close to the Kremlin. The agency also mentioned discussions around a project consisting of bringing Armenians living in Russia back to Armenia so that they could vote against Pashinyan.
According to this publication, Russian authorities have estimated that it would take around $50 million to transport some 100,000 voters to Armenia.
Reuters specified, however, that it was not able to determine whether this project had actually been implemented nor whether it would have been sufficient to narrow the gap between the main candidates.
Western experts put Moscow’s impact into perspective
Questioned by Radio Liberté, several Western analysts estimated that Russia undoubtedly considered Armenia’s rapprochement with the West as a strategic challenge.
“There is ample documented evidence that Russian disinformation networks and Russian media are extremely active regarding the Armenian elections,” said Michael Hikari Cecire, a defense and security researcher at the think tank. American RAND.
The expert stressed, however, that these efforts often produced limited effects and were unlikely to radically change the outcome of the vote.
“The latest polls show that confidence in the Armenian government’s efforts to resolve conflicts remains relatively strong, while skepticism toward Russia persists. This shows that the Armenian population is less and less receptive to Russian information campaigns. HAS”
According to him, the Kremlin’s long-term strategic objective remains to prevent Armenia from moving closer to Western institutions.
“Russia undoubtedly seeks to keep Armenia in what it considers to be its sphere of influence, in particular by hindering Yerevan’s European rapprochements. HAS”
The same observation is shared by Andrew D’Anieri.
“At this stage, I do not rate the effectiveness of the Russian intervention strategy very highly,” he declared to Radio Liberté, before adding:
“It is perfectly true that Moscow wants Pashinyan’s defeat and that it is using all kinds of means of pressure against Armenia to achieve this: economic, informational, diplomatic and others. HAS”
According to D’Anieri:
“The United States and the European Union are doing much today to promote prosperity, peace and democracy in Armenia. Now it is up to Armenians to decide who they want to elect. HAS”
On the eve of the election, the message from Washington remains clear: the future of Armenia must be determined by the Armenians themselves.
