Armenia Heads Into Parliamentary Elections as Europe Moves to Counter Russian Influence

In the early phase of the war between Iran, the United States and Israel, the countries of the South Caucasus have found themselves in a familiar but increasingly fragile position: close enough to feel the consequences of the conflict, yet too vulnerable to take sides.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said the country’s new constitution should not contain a reference to the 1990 Declaration of Independence because the document’s call for the reunification of Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia is “built on the logic of conflict.”

U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance’s trip to the capitals of Armenia and Azerbaijan is set to have serious and long-term consequences for the South Caucasus region.

U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance visited Armenia over the weekend and Azerbaijan, underscoring Washington’s expanded diplomatic, economic and security engagement in the South Caucasus as it seeks to lock in post-conflict integration, anchor east–west connectivity and curb the region’s historic dependence on Russia.