During his visit to Washington, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attended the Atlantic Council, where he delivered a speech and answered questions from John Herbst, senior director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center and former U.S. ambassador to Uzbekistan and Ukraine.

Speaking about Armenia’s relations with its neighbors, Pashinyan stated that his country seeks to open a new era in relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan.

"Two of our four borders remain completely closed—the ones with Turkey and Azerbaijan. We also have borders with Georgia and Iran, which are vital to us. We cooperate and have good relations with both, but we aspire to establish a new era in our relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan."

Pashinyan noted that in recent years, significant progress has been made in the peace process with Azerbaijan.

"To give you a sense of this progress, we are now discussing a peace treaty with Azerbaijan, and out of 17 provisions, we have reached a full agreement on 15. Only two points remain unresolved, and we hope to finalize the process as soon as possible. While we work bilaterally with Azerbaijan, the international community’s attention and support would be crucial in creating the right conditions for lasting peace."

The prime minister also highlighted Armenia’s active dialogue with Turkey.

"In recent years, I have had multiple meetings with the Turkish president. I attended his inauguration, and we recently met in New York during the UN General Assembly. We have reached a concrete agreement to initially open our border for third-country citizens and diplomatic passport holders. We hope to implement this agreement as soon as possible and are actively working towards it."

Pashinyan emphasized that Armenia continues to deepen cooperation with Georgia and Iran.

"There are international circumstances that complicate the deepening of our regional ties, and these are well known—I won’t specify them. However, I believe we are managing to navigate these challenges while also developing relations with our neighbors. We hope that signing a final peace treaty with Azerbaijan and normalizing ties with Turkey will bring a fundamental shift to our regional dynamics, with far-reaching global implications."

On February 1, Nikol Pashinyan, accompanied by his wife Anna Hakobyan, traveled to the United States to attend the 5th Annual International Religious Freedom Summit and the National Prayer Breakfast.