U.S. and Armenia Agree on Civil Nuclear Cooperation Deal

Armenian PM's X Account

U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

Armenia and the United States agreed on Monday to strengthen cooperation in the civil nuclear sector, as Washington moves to deepen ties with a former close ally of Russia, several months after the US brokered a peace agreement in the South Caucasus.

A statement formalising the agreement was signed by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and U.S. Vice President JD Vance, who is on a two-day official visit to Armenia.

Both sides confirmed that negotiations had been completed on a so-called 123 Agreement, a legal framework that enables the United States to licence the transfer of nuclear technology, equipment and materials to partner countries for peaceful purposes.

The agreement will allow up to $5 billion in initial U.S. exports to Armenia, plus an additional $4 billion in longer-term fuel and maintenance contracts, Vance said.

"This agreement will open a new chapter in the deepening energy partnership between Armenia and the United States," Pashinyan said at a joint press conference with Vance.

Long heavily dependent on Russia and Iran for its energy supplies, Armenia is now reviewing proposals from U.S., Russian, Chinese, French and South Korean companies to construct a new nuclear reactor to replace its sole, ageing Russian-built nuclear power plant, Metsamor.

No choice has yet been made, but Monday's announcement paves the way for an American project to be selected. That would deal a blow to Russia, which traditionally has viewed the South Caucasus as its sphere of influence but whose clout there has diminished as a result of its invasion of Ukraine.

Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, interviewed by the media outlet Izvestia, said a Russian proposal for a new nuclear plant was the best option and state nuclear corporation Rosatom was ready to proceed with it.

"Rosatom is ready to proceed very quickly with the implementation of this project, of course in accordance with the wishes of our Armenian friends," Galuzin was quoted as saying.

"There are no real alternatives in terms of the availability of reliable, proven technologies, as well as the attractiveness of financial parameters."

"Considering Armenia's multiplicity of dependencies on Russia, it is a political priority to diversify partners when it comes to nuclear cooperation," said Narek Sukiasyan, a political scientist in Yerevan.

"The United States seems to be the preference now."

Vance’s visit comes just six months after Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders signed an agreement at the White House, widely viewed as a first step towards lasting peace following nearly four decades of conflict.

During the visit, Vance also sought to promote the proposed Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP), a 43-kilometre corridor that would run through southern Armenia, providing Azerbaijan with a direct land route to its exclave of Nakhchivan and onward access to Turkey, a close ally of Baku.

The corridor is intended to strengthen links between Asia and Europe and, critically for Washington, to bypass both Russia and Iran at a time when Western countries are seeking to diversify energy and trade routes away from Russia in response to the war in Ukraine.

The TRIPP project envisions the construction or modernisation of rail infrastructure, as well as new oil and gas pipelines and fibre-optic cables, developments that could significantly reshape the South Caucasus — a region long characterised by closed borders and deep-rooted ethnic conflicts.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin told Izvestia that Moscow is currently studying the TRIPP proposal.

"We're not just making peace for Armenia," Vance said. "We're also creating real prosperity for Armenia and the United States together."

He is set to visit Azerbaijan on Wednesday and Thursday, according to the White House.

Source: Reuters



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