Mirzoyan will Meet with Blinken This Week, Yerevan Says

Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan will meet with Secretary of State Antony Blinken this week, Armenia’s foreign ministry announced on Monday.
The Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Ani Badalyan, said that Mirzoyan will travel to Washington on Tuesday and during his visit will meet with Blinken.
The announcement comes days after Mirzoyan was asked about the signing of a potential strategic agreement between the United States and Armenia.
Mirzoyan last week did not deny reports that the U.S. and Armenia are poised to sign an agreement on “strategic partnership” that will underscore their deepening relations.
“We have a strategic dialogue which we agreed to upgrade to strategic partnership,” Mirzoyan said at a news conference. “A document or documents regarding this are certainly under discussion.”
He said that American and Armenian officials will hold more talks on the matter soon and urged reporters to “wait for a few days.”
“The strong commitment to democratic principles is at the very core of our partnership. Our bilateral agenda continues to expand and include dimensions important for the resilience and sustainable development of Armenia. Considering the growing nature and dynamics of bilateral relations, we are hopeful to upgrade our Strategic Dialogue to a Strategic Partnership that could further enhance the structured approach to our multifaceted cooperation,” Mirzoyan said last week.
Mirzoyan and James O’Brien, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for Europe and Eurasia, announced plans to “upgrade the status of our bilateral dialogue to a Strategic Partnership Commission” after chairing a session of a U.S.-Armenian task force in Yerevan in June.
Defense Minister Suren Papikyan met with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during a visit to Washington last month. Austin said they discussed “our growing strategic partnership through training and exercises, military education, and capacity-building.”
“We are developing our relations with the United States, not with its incumbent or outgoing administration,” Mirzoyan said. “Also, we already have contacts with the incoming administration, the president-elect and his teammates.”