The Yerevan Center for Foreign and Security Policy (YCFSP) attaches great importance to the upcoming visit to Yerevan and Baku of the delegation led by U.S. Vice President James David Vance.

In its previous two policy briefs—on the TRIPP Implementation Framework and Armenia’s adherence to the Board of Peace —YCFSP addressed the significant role the United States has played and continues to play in the Armenia–Azerbaijan peace process, as well as in launching the unblocking of regional communications. We also underscored the importance of key initiatives agreed upon within the framework of the U.S.–Armenia Strategic Partnership.

At the same time, we note that despite the significant progress achieved, several issues of fundamental importance remain that should be addressed in the context of Vice President Vance’s visit.

1. The signing of the Washington Declaration was critically important; however, the peace agreement has not yet been signed, and the peace process remains incomplete. Following the Washington Summit, Azerbaijan continued to impose preconditions on Armenia for the signing of the agreement—some of which amounted to interference in Armenia’s internal democratic processes. Although in recent weeks Azerbaijan has refrained from making explicit statements about such preconditions, they continue to exist implicitly. To end this policy of pressure on Armenia and to give the peace process a durable normative character, it is essential that the peace agreement be signed as soon as possible. In particular, it would be advisable for it to be signed before Armenia’s upcoming parliamentary elections and constitutional referendum. This would help prevent attempts to create domestic political instability and would serve as an additional signal facilitating progress in other negotiation tracks.
2. The second issue concerns the full implementation of border delimitation between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Through this process, it is important not only to ensure the prerequisites necessary for the implementation of TRIPP, but also to secure the de-occupation of approximately 250 square kilometers of Armenia’s internationally recognized territory that came under Baku’s control as a result of Azerbaijani military offensives in 2021–2022. We consider it important to note that although a year and a half has passed since the start of delimitation work, it has been carried out only on a small segment of the border favorable to Azerbaijan. We believe the process should be accelerated, and Azerbaijan should withdraw its forces from the occupied territories in the same manner that Armenia withdrew its troops from exclave territories that belonged to Azerbaijan during the Soviet period.
3. While noting that in the months following the Washington Summit there has been some moderation in Azerbaijan’s antagonistic and revisionist narratives directed at Armenia, we consider it necessary to state that such actions have not ceased and are being carried out in a more covert manner—through the use of mass media, educational, and academic institutions. Instead of preparing society for peace, Azerbaijan continues, through unofficial actors, to distort historical facts and promote expansionist narratives toward Armenia, continuing to refer to Armenia or parts of it as “Western Azerbaijan” and educating future generations in the same spirit. Such policies are incompatible with the peace process. Additional efforts are required to ensure that Azerbaijan permanently ceases its cognitive warfare against Armenia, as well as its expansionist and revisionist narratives and concealed demands.
4. Azerbaijan also continues to use the fabricated term “Zangezur corridor” instead of the official TRIPP name, seeking—both domestically and internationally—to create the false impression that the road is extraterritorial. This terminology is exploited by Armenian opposition circles associated with Russia, enabling them to disseminate false narratives about TRIPP within Armenian society. We propose that Azerbaijan cease using the “Zangezur corridor” discourse and abandon attempts to portray TRIPP through an extraterritorial logic.
5. Of great importance is the full unblocking of Armenia by Azerbaijan and Turkey—not symbolic or ad hoc, but based on the principle of reciprocity and on equal terms—as well as Armenia’s full participation in the Middle Corridor and other regional connectivity routes and projects, in line with Armenia’s “Crossroads of Peace” vision.
6. We believe the establishment of diplomatic relations between Turkey and Armenia—including the unblocking of Armenia by Turkey—is more than overdue but is prevented by Azerbaijan. Normalization of Armenia-Turkey relations would have a significant impact on reducing Armenia’s security dependencies and enhancing regional stability.
7. The conviction of Armenian prisoners of war and former leadership of Nagorno-Karabakh through non-transparent trials that violate legal norms, based on unconvincing and politicized charges, stands in complete contradiction to the spirit of the peace process. We join Armenian human rights organizations in their request to Vice President Vance for U.S. mediation aimed at securing the release of Armenian prisoners. It is important to emphasize that Armenia has agreed to withdraw lawsuits from international courts and has released not only all Azerbaijani PoWs but also Syrian mercenaries involved by Azerbaijan in the 44-day war. Therefore, Armenian prisoners must be released through amnesty, and no new preconditions should be imposed on Armenia in exchange for their release.
8. YCFSP welcomes the meetings and reciprocal visits, involving representatives of civil society and expert communities from Azerbaijan and Armenia since last year. However, it notes with concern that Azerbaijani young researcher and peace activist Bahruz Samadov has been convicted for independent contacts with Armenian experts, journalists, and peace activists conducted without authorization from the Azerbaijani government. The name of YCFSP President Sossi Tatikyan has become central in his court case solely because, among other Armenian and Azerbaijani participants, they met once in 2023 in Berlin at a workshop organized by German partners. This was followed by limited and infrequent correspondence on articles of mutual interest and on the Armenia–Azerbaijan peace agenda. Armenian experts and activists who met Bahruz—including the YCFSP President, who is merely a former Armenian diplomat and former UN peacekeeper—have been labeled as agents of Armenian special services who allegedly recruited him. This accusation has no factual basis and has been denied by the head of Armenia’s foreign intelligence service. It should also be noted that Sossi Tatikyan previously met with Hikmet Hajiyev, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan, during their simultaneous diplomatic service at NATO headquarters, as well as with other Azerbaijani experts. We believe that the imprisonment of Bahruz Samadov is entirely incompatible with the logic of the peace process. We request mediation for his release as an independent researcher who has contributed to the Armenia–Azerbaijan peace agenda.

U.S.–Armenia Bilateral Partnership: Nuclear Energy

9. YCFSP welcomes Armenia–U.S. cooperation in the field of peaceful nuclear energy. As early as 2008, the NATO Defense College published the YCFSP President’s monograph entitled “How do energy security and Euro-Atlantic integration correlate in the Southern Caucasus”, which proposed the construction of a new nuclear power plant in Armenia with the U.S. support to ensure and diversify the country’s energy security. While welcoming the launch of cooperation in this direction, we believe that constructing, with U.S. support, a medium-capacity, long-term modern nuclear power plant is more appropriate than installing small modular nuclear reactors in Armenia. This is also important in the context of ensuring the electricity required for the construction of an AI factory in Armenia, also with U.S. support. Finally, electricity generated by Armenia’s new nuclear power plant could also be exported to neighboring countries, including Turkey and Azerbaijan, contributing to the establishment of healthy economic and energy interdependence in the region. Such economic cooperation would significantly support the sustainability of the peace agenda.