The U.S. Embassy in Yerevan said they spoke about “a broad range of issues important to the bilateral relationship, including U.S. support for Armenia's democratic development, human rights, and the peace process.”
“The Ambassador underscored U.S. support for Armenia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and welcomed Armenia and Azerbaijan’s recent agreement to use the Alma Ata Declaration as a basis for border delimitation,” it added in a short statement.
The parliamentary groups of the Hayastan and Pativ Unem alliances requested urgent meetings with Kvien as well as other Yerevan-based Western ambassadors on May 2 just hours after the Armenian police detained dozens of protesters in the northern Tavush region trying to prevent the handover of adjacent border areas to Azerbaijan.
In a joint statement, they said the crackdown highlighted the Armenian government’s “attempts to limit freedom of speech and the right to peaceful assembly, control of the judicial system, and widespread recourse to arrests.” They said they want to discuss with the Western diplomats their countries’ “tolerance” of these practices.
The Armenian authorities denied using excessive force against the Tavush protesters strongly opposed to the land handover stemming from an Armenian-Azerbaijani border delimitation deal. The United States and the European Union have welcomed the deal.
The Western powers have supported Pashinian and what they describe as democratic reforms implemented by his administration throughout his six-year rule. As recently as on April 28, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken praised Pashinian’s “vision for a prosperous, democratic, and independent future for Armenia.” Armenian opposition leaders have accused the West of turning a blind eye to its undemocratic practices in Armenia for geopolitical reasons.
