Fierce battle for post of Armenia’s next ambassador to US

· May 5, 2025

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Hraparak daily of the Republic of Armenia (RA) wrote that the return of Armenia’s ambassador to the US Lilit Makunts is just a few months away. Everyone understands that in such an important country as the United States, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan will not appoint an experienced diplomat, but a person loyal to him—a teammate, whom he trusts because the position of ambassador in a superpower also implies shadow contacts, and he, as a rule, does not consider diplomats his own, does not trust them.

His political team also knows this and, they say, a fierce battle is currently underway for the honor of being sent to Washington and the opportunity to live a peaceful and secure life in the US for several years. We learned from the ruling Civil Contract Party and its parliamentary faction circles that the main contenders for the position of RA Ambassador to the US are two: Member of Parliament and former minister of health Arsen Torosyan, and Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Narek Mkrtchyan.

Arsen Torosyan, as many have noticed, is recently often accompanying Nikol Pashinyan during foreign visits and is simply doing everything to advance Nikol’s theories—he gives speeches, writes online statuses, slandering political opponents. And recently tore up the petition addressed to him to impeach Pashinyan—violating Armenia’s Law “On Examination of Applications and Complaints.”

And Narek Mkrtchyan, who is also responsible for Civil Contrat’s external relations, has traveled to the US many times in recent years—participated in various forums, attended President Donald Trump’s inauguration, and even has a photo with Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Our source says that they consider Mkrtchyan’s appointment more likely, although, for the sake of justice, they should have dismissed him from the post of minister as well, since, being a resident of Parakar village and a person responsible for the matter, they failed the Parakar local elections, not being able to bring enough votes to the CC.