The Armenian Weekly. On February 4, 2025, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan delivered a speech at the Atlantic Council in Washington, D.C., discussing Armenia’s foreign policy and the country’s efforts to promote regional peace and cooperation.
Upon his arrival in Washington on February 3, Pashinyan was met with protests near the Armenian Embassy, where posters critical of his policies were displayed, including messages such as, “Artsakh betrayed,” “Hostages abandoned” and “Armenian land occupied.” Members of the Armenian Youth Federation in the U.S. also placed a banner on the embassy wall reading, “Pashinyan failed Armenians.”
Pashinyan was joined at the Atlantic Council by John Herbst, senior director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center and former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine and Uzbekistan. After Pashinyan’s speech, a Q&A session followed between the two, along with a closed-door discussion with experts.
In his address, Pashinyan outlined Armenia’s foreign policy approach, emphasizing the country’s pursuit of a balanced and diversified strategy. He explained that Armenia’s independence and sovereignty are the core priorities of the government’s foreign policy. Pashinyan noted that Armenia aims to reduce its dependence on a few countries and instead strengthen ties with a broad range of partners.
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“We are focused on our regional relations, because how we will be independent and secure will mainly depend on what kind of relations we have in our region,” Pashinyan said, referencing the closed borders with Turkey and Azerbaijan. “We have deep relations with our neighbors, Georgia and Iran, but we want to open a new era in our relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan.”
Pashinyan highlighted significant progress made in negotiations with Azerbaijan. “We are discussing a draft peace treaty with Azerbaijan, and now we have reached full agreement on 15 out of 17 points of that treaty. There are two points left on which we still need to reach a final agreement. We hope to complete this process as soon as possible,” he said. The prime minister emphasized that international support and attention are vital to ensuring a sustainable peace in the region.
He also addressed Armenia’s ongoing dialogue with Turkey, noting that discussions are progressing. “We have a very specific agreement to open our [mutual] border to citizens of third countries and people holding diplomatic passports, and we hope to achieve the implementation of this agreement as soon as possible,” Pashinyan added.
On Armenia’s position in regional alliances, Pashinyan noted that while Armenia remains a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, it has suspended its participation in the Collective Security Treaty Organization due to the failure of the Russian-led military bloc to guarantee Armenia’s security. “We are in the process of diversifying our foreign relations in all areas, from economy to security. We are deepening our relations with the European Union,” he remarked, referencing the European Union’s civilian mission deployed along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border.
Pashinyan also discussed Armenia’s growing ties with the United States and the European Union (EU), particularly noting the Strategic Partnership Charter signed between Armenia and the U.S. this month. He expressed hopes for a deeper collaboration with Washington. “We hope to open a new page in our relations with the United States,” he said.
In terms of Armenia’s internal developments, Pashinyan reaffirmed Armenia’s commitment to advancing democratic reforms. He emphasized the importance of democracy in ensuring national security, noting, “We see prosperity, happiness, freedom, protection of human rights, an independent judiciary and, in general, success for our citizens” as essential for securing the country’s future.
During the Q&A session, Herbst asked Pashinyan about the challenges of convincing the Armenian people to support negotiations with Azerbaijan. Despite skepticism in Armenia about the peace agenda, Pashinyan responded that the government views peace as the only reliable tool for ensuring security and prosperity.
“It is impossible to have real and growing independence, prosperity and security without peace,” Pashinyan said. “Peace is key. We cannot have democracy in an environment of war.”
Of the remaining unresolved points in the treaty with Azerbaijan, Pashinyan explained that the two key issues concern the deployment of third-party forces along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border and international legal complaints.
The EU Mission in Armenia (EUMA) was launched in 2022 to observe and report on the situation along the border, strengthen Armenia’s security and support regional stability. “Azerbaijan proposes a ban on the deployment of third-party forces along the border—meaning EUMA. We take note of this desire of Azerbaijan and have made our own proposal to apply that [provision] only to the demarcated sectors of the border,” Pashinyan said. This development follows the European Council’s decision on January 30 to extend the mandate of EUMA for an additional two years, with a €44 million budget allocated to its operations.
“The point concerns the complaints filed against each other in legal institutions. The idea is to call back all these complaints. In general, we are not against this idea either,” Pashinyan continued.
In response to Pashinyan’s comments at the Atlantic Council, former Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian posted a lengthy criticism on Facebook. “His willingness to withdraw cases, despite Armenia’s clear legal victories, is nothing short of further capitulation. Azerbaijan has demanded this, and Pashinyan is complying,” Oskanian wrote.
“The legal cases Armenia has pursued are not mere bargaining chips; they are essential mechanisms for exposing Azerbaijan’s aggression, ethnic cleansing and gross human rights violations,” he continued.
In a separate post, Oskanian argued that recognizing the new reality post-2020 war in Artsakh does not mean abandoning historical facts or weakening national identity. “At its core, Armenia’s national interest must remain the preservation of its sovereignty and security. This requires strengthening military capabilities, enhancing intelligence operations, ensuring strategic deterrence and practicing prudent diplomacy,” Oskanian said.
“Pashinyan fails to grasp that diplomacy is a two-way street — it requires mutual engagement,” Oskanian continued. “His appeasement of Azerbaijan is neither valued nor effective, doing nothing to alter Baku’s aggressive and expansionist posture toward Armenia. His so-called realism is deeply flawed, stemming from ignorance, a fundamental misreading of geopolitical realities and a primary focus on preserving his own position — leaving Armenia increasingly vulnerable to future threats.”
Ultimately, Oskanian concluded, national resilience is built on a firm grasp of historical truths, combined with strategic adaptability. Pashinyan’s approach, which prioritizes short-term peace over historical continuity, is a dangerous game. Armenia’s survival and sovereignty, he argued, depend not on rewriting history, but on learning from it — using the lessons of the past to strengthen the future, rather than allowing external pressures to dictate its national narrative.
Echoing Oskanian’s statements, Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), emphasized the importance of accountability in peace efforts. “There can be no peace absent accountability — a reckoning with Azerbaijan’s crimes, the release of Armenian hostages, the removal of Azerbaijani forces from Armenia and the return of Armenians to Artsakh,” Hamparian stated to the Weekly.
He continued, “Each unilateral concession by Pashinyan to Azerbaijan invariably leads to renewed Azerbaijani demands for yet more unilateral concessions — a relentless cycle of surrender that cedes ever more Armenian soil, security and sovereignty.”