Narek Mkrtchyan, Armenia's minister for labor and social affairs, told Newsmax on Wednesday that the strategic partnership pact signed between his country and the U.S. in January is a "win-win" deal.
On Jan. 14, six days before President Donald Trump took office, the U.S. and Armenia signed a Strategic Partnership Commission Charter that expands cooperation in security and several other areas as Armenia seeks to distance itself from its former ally, Russia.
Mkrtchyan told "American Agenda" the partnership is about "making Armenia stronger and making the region safer."
"This is based on joint values, shared interests, shared benefits. And in fact, this is more and more opportunities for American businesses in our region and in Armenia," said Mkrtchyan, who was appointed to his post by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in 2021.
"And under President Trump's administration, United States has been a true champion of sovereignty ... and such kind of partnerships will also strengthen our economy. Armenia supports and shares these principles because we also stand for our sovereignty.
"Our strong partnership and peace comes through strength, and we agree with this. And strength is impossible without strong partnership," he said.
"And this charter is very important alliance with America first policy. Because when you have strong partnership, when you have stability in the peace in the region, it means that the new business opportunities, new investment opportunities, which provides this framework of the charter, so will also benefit U.S. allies and U.S. strategic interests."
Armenia used to be part of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization, and Russia still has a military base in Armenia. But relations reportedly soured over what Armenia called a failure by Russia to provide sufficient assistance when Azerbaijan in 2023 seized the Nagorno-Karabakh region, forcing roughly 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee. Armenia and Azerbaijan have since been negotiating on a peace deal.
"And we will send the message to the world that we are working with the United States of America for economic prosperity and indeed for lasting peace," Mkrtchyan said. "And this is to phrase in another way, like to have a win-win deal.
"And both of our nations will benefit from such kind of partnership. And having a peace with Azerbaijan, I think, will bring sustainable peace in the region and will create a new kind of opportunities for both the United States and Armenia to have a partnership in security and energy, investment, and trade."
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Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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