“Bound by deep connections between our people, Armenia and the United States are working together to forge a better future - including by upgrading our relationship to a strategic partnership,” he said in a letter publicized by Pashinian’s office. “This will advance our cooperation across the board, from strengthening our security and defense partnership to accelerating our clean energy and trade diversification initiatives.”
“This strategic partnership will also support Armenia's ongoing efforts to pursue a democratic path through civic action, good governance, rule of law, and anti-corruption measures - values shared by Americans and Armenians alike,” added Biden.
Washington and Yerevan first announced plans to upgrade the status of bilateral ties after a session of a joint task force held in the Armenian capital in June. The Russian Foreign Ministry warned that the development could only create additional security risks and economic problems for Armenia.
Russian-Armenian relations have deteriorated further over the past year, with Pashinian freezing Armenia’s membership in the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and pledging to withdraw his country from it altogether. James O’Brien, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for Europe and Eurasia, praised Pashinian’s “brave” efforts to “break with Russia” during a congressional hearing in Washington in July.
“Much of the population [of Armenia] want to get further from Russia. So we’re creating the conditions for that happen,” O’Brien told U.S. senators.
Pashinian has pledged to “diversify” Armenia’s foreign and security policy in response to what he sees as Russia’s failure to defend his country against Azerbaijani attacks. The premier and his political allies say that closer security ties with the West will help the country better cope with its grave security challenges. Armenian opposition leaders counter that the policy change is reckless given the lack of any Western security guarantees or significant military aid promised to Yerevan.
Russian President Vladimir Putin also congratulated Pashinian on the 33rd anniversary of a referendum which was followed by a September 1991 declaration of Armenia’s independence from the crumbling Soviet Union.
“Further development of friendly, allied Russian-Armenian relations as well as constructive interaction within the framework of common integration associations undoubtedly meets the fundamental interests of our peoples,” read Putin’s short message released by Pashinian’s office.