Copyright aravot
by Suren Sargsyan The defense relationship between Armenia and the United States has evolved over the past two decades, marked by periods of active engagement and more passive phases. While the early 2000s saw an increase in high-level meetings and tangible military cooperation, recent years, particularly under the tenure of Armenian Defense Minister Suren Papikyan, have been less fruitful, raising questions about the direction and depth of the bilateral relationship. Armenian Defense Minister Suren Papikyan recently made his third visit to the United States since taking office. His October 12 visit was his first under the Trump administration. There were no high-level meetings, and, in particular, no meeting between Papikyan and US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. Papikyan’s only official meeting was with Undersecretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby at the Pentagon. No concrete results from that encounter are known. The Armenian and US military cooperation agenda generally revolves around existing programs. One outcome that Armenia might get from Papikyan’s recent trip is a change of the Armenian military uniform, as during his visit Papikyan met with the leadership of the American company Milliken in Washington, which specializes in the design and development of military uniforms. It appears challenging for the current Armenian authorities to maintain productive relations with the Republican administration rather than with the Democrats. One possible evidence of this is that Papikyan’s only high-level meeting with a US Secretary of Defense took place during his December 2024 visit, which was in the final days of the outgoing Biden administration. On December 5, Papikyan met with Lloyd Austin. The meeting commenced with an official welcoming ceremony at the Pentagon. During the meeting Austin emphasized the historic significance of the visit of the defense minister of the Republic of Armenia. Though the US Democratic administration had shown an increased interest in Armenia and the region since 2018, there were no prior high-level meetings between the heads of defense agencies and the timing of this meeting is significant, with only a bit more than 40 days left till the Trump administration came to power. There were no essential cooperation projects proposed by Armenia to its US counterparts at this meeting either. The agenda largely revolved around US assistance provided to Armenia. The meeting was historical in the sense that it broke the two-decade hiatus in high-level meetings but the lack of concrete results or proposals raises questions about its impact for Armenia and Armenian interests overall. Some years earlier, on September 5, 2022 Armenian Defense Minister Papikyan visited the US for the first time to meet with US Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kah. The focus of this trip appeared to be cooperation in education and analysis as evidenced by three meetings held at educational institutions, including the Kansas training center, the National Guard, and the University of Washington. When analyzed in the broader context of high-level US-Armenia defense relations, it becomes evident that Papikyan’s visits have been notably less productive in terms of outcomes compared to those of his predecessors as Armenia’s minister of defense. Overall, the 1990s and early 2000s represented one of the most active periods of military cooperation between the United States and Armenia. While this was undoubtedly influenced by the historical, political, and security dynamics of the time, it was also a critical moment to capitalize on a strategic window of opportunity in the country’s best interests. As outlined below, there were several high-level meetings between Armenian defense ministers and US secretaries of defense. Moreover, new areas of cooperation were established during this period, many of which continue to this day. Under President Levon Ter-Petrosyan, back in 1994 during their visit to the United States, Armenia’s Minister of Defense Vazgen Sargsyan had a high-level meeting with his American counterpart Secretary of Defense William J. Perry. The two signed a memorandum on military cooperation in the Pentagon, which was of fundamental importance for US-Armenian defense relations. The memorandum was unprecedented, as no similar document had been signed with any of the former Soviet republics back then. This was particularly notable given that Armenia was engaged in war at that time and it was expected that if such an agreement was signed with Armenia, a corresponding one would also be concluded with Azerbaijan. However, even under the logic of false parity, this did not occur. Later, under Kocharyan administration, the first meeting of the 21st century took place between Armenian Defense Minister Serzh Sargsyan and US Secretary of Defense William Cohen on July 24, 2000 in Washington. During their meeting Sargsyan and Cohen signed an agreement on ending the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, which included a provision of $300,000 of equipment and training for Armenia. That was a significant visit representing an important step in the deepening of military relations between Armenia and the United States in the post-Soviet era. Two years later, on March 20, 2002, Defense Minister Sargsyan made his second visit to the US capital. Sargsyan met with US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at the Pentagon. This was the second meeting between the two since Secretary Rumsfeld had made a visit to Armenia back in 2001. Sargsyan considered this meeting as the “start of US-Armenian military consultations.” Secretary Rumsfeld thanked Armenia for supporting the war on terror. Apart from meeting with the Secretary himself, a number of other high-level meetings were also organized for Serzh Sargsyan, including with US Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz. His negotiations were quite fruitful, leading to significant outcomes such as the establishment of the Humanitarian Demining Center of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia in 2002. Moreover, in 2003, the Kansas state and the Republic of Armenia were linked under the National Guard Bureau’s State Partnership Program facilitating cooperation between the Kansas National Guard and Armenian governmental bodies such as the Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Health, Rescue Service, etc. Only one month after Sargsyan’s visit to the USA, another visit of Armenian officials was organized. From October 31 to November 5, 2004, First Deputy Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia and Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General Mikael Harutyunyan (who became Minister of Defense 2007-2008) was in the United States. Harutyunyan visited the Central Command in Florida, the Kansas National Guard, and held meetings in Washington. Meetings were also organized with almost the entire American military leadership, such as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Wagner, and other high-ranking military officials. This further solidified Armenia’s commitment to strengthening its military ties with the US. In 2005, just one year later, one more visit of Armenian Defense Minister Sargsyan was organized. In October, 2005, Sargsyan held separate meetings with Stephen Hadley, national security advisor of the United States and US Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld. Rumsfeld assessed the prospects of development of Armenian-American military relations as “very good” and the visit of Sargsyan as “positive.” He also stressed that he appreciated US-Armenian relations and declared that “events organized in the course of the visit are an evidence of it. We do not have the right to miss these good opportunities of reforming out army.” The next minister of defense, Mikael Harutyunyan, did not make any official trips to the US, as he held his position for just one year. But he did visit the US while first deputy minister of defense of the Republic of Armenia and chief of the General Staff as presented above. Meanwhile, Seyran Ohanyan, who followed Harutyunayn in this position, continued the tradition of high-level meetings with US officials under Sargsyan administration. In March 2012 Armenian Defense Minister Ohanyan had an official visit to the USA during which he met with his counterpart Leon Panetta, who expressed gratitude for Armenia’s participation in NATO missions in Kosovo and Afghanistan. Ohanyan also had meetings with David H. Petraeus, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and Assistant Secretaries of State Philip H. Gordon and Andrew J. Shapiro. Thus, the Armenian defense minister managed to secure meetings with his counterparts during those years. Despite the fact that a declaration on strategic partnership has been signed between Armenia and the United States, relations in the field of defense are not deepening. Moreover, during the Trump administration, the assistance provided to Armenia — including in the security sector — was reduced. High-level meetings, however, indicate the presence of important issues on the agenda. And despite the fact that the TRIPP (Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity) program is soon to be launched in the region, military cooperation between the two countries is not expanding, and no new programs are being developed.
