Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has slammed ex-US official James O’Brien for his remarks that the Armenian–Azerbaijani agreements signed in Washington would not bring Armenia a ‘substantial peace dividend’, might not resolve the conflict with Azerbaijan, and could leave Armenia exposed to further risks.
Pashinyan’s remarks came during a press briefing on Thursday in response to a question asked by the state-run media outlet Armenpress.
He began his response by noting that O’Brien, who served as assistant secretary of state in former US President Joe Biden’s administration, had ‘lost his high-ranking position’ as a result of US President Donald Trump’s tenure, and that ‘he now faces the challenge of explaining why President Trump’s team was able to achieve what they themselves could not’.
Commenting on O’Brien talking about Armenia’s vulnerabilities as a result of the Washington agreements, Pashinyan claimed that ‘unfortunately, Armenia was most vulnerable’ during the Biden administration’s tenure.
‘I have to say that we had never been satisfied with the reaction and work that the then-US administration had carried out in our region to support the peace agenda’, Pashinyan said.
He also expressed his lack of intention to respond to what he called O’Brien’s ‘emotional assessments’.
‘If he has lost his job, he needs to self-reflect and not try to put the blame for losing his job on [...] Armenia. Today, Armenia is in the least vulnerable state of its modern independent history. [...] And perhaps it was the lack of skills to notice geopolitical, regional and political nuances that didn’t allow Mr O’Brien to continue his work in the US State Department’, Pashinyan concluded.
What sparked Pashinyan’s commentary?
O’Brien’s comments, published on 14 August, went viral in Armenia only this week.
In his lengthy piece, O’Brien analysed the Armenia–Azerbaijan–US agreements made on 8 August in Washington, which resulted in the initialling of the peace treaty as well as the agreement to establish the Trump Corridor for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP), which would connect mainland Azerbaijan to its exclave Nakhchivan through Armenia.
Nate Ostiller
He also noted that Trump’s involvement ‘might have been the key factor in securing this agreement’, adding that in the Biden administration, they did not offer the president’s personal involvement due to several concerns, namely ‘the tens of thousands of Armenians who had fled Nagorno-Karabakh in 2023, as well as about Azerbaijan’s crackdown on civil society, including threats to expel USAID’.
‘In short, the US paid up front while Aliyev only had to reiterate peace assurances he has offered many times before’, O’Brien said.
Talking about the possible future ‘strains’ Armenia might face as a result of the agreements, O’Brien highlighted the absence of any ‘substantial peace dividend for Armenia’, such as the opening of the border with Turkey or extra investments for Armenia’s benefits. Instead, O’Brien highlighted, the only outcome was ‘a corridor connecting different parts of Azerbaijan’.
O’Brien suggested that the Armenian election campaign in 2026 would be ‘dominated by the prospect of a coerced constitutional change’, claiming that this deeply unpopular move would ‘hurt Pashinyan further’.
‘This is a shame. Pashinyan has been a courageous, far-sighted leader. A weak and Moscow-dependent Armenia, or one polarised like neighbouring Georgia, will almost certainly not live up to the hard compromises needed for peace. And an Armenia that cannot uphold the agreement will be vulnerable to intervention by Moscow or Baku’, O’Brien said.
Trump calls Pashinyan ‘a great leader’
During Thursday’s briefing, Pashinyan was asked if, in a similar manner to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, he also received a photo gift from President Trump.
Pashinyan gave a positive response, claiming that he had received ‘exactly the same’ photos as Aliyev, though presumably with a separate personal address.
On 25 August, Aliyev shared signed photos he said he received as a gift from President Trump. The photos, which were taken at the historical trilateral meeting in Washington earlier this month, contained a note from Trump and his signature — ‘Iham Aliyev you are a great leader’.
Nate Ostiller
‘I am also grateful to President Trump for that attention, and perhaps I wasn't tactful enough to make it public — maybe that was my mistake’, Pashinyan added on Thursday.
