Constitutional expert Gohar Meloyan commented on U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance’s statements during his visit to Yerevan, stressing that the $9 billion figure refers to economic activity expected within the United States, not direct investment in Armenia.

“For any reasonable Armenian, the idea of a $9 billion investment sounds like wonderful news, even a dream,” Meloyan wrote on Facebook.

“However, after reading Vice President Vance’s remarks, it’s clear he made no mention of a $9 billion investment into Armenia. What he said was that a pathway is opening for American and Armenian companies to sign civil nuclear project agreements, which would mean up to $5 billion in exports from the U.S., plus another $4 billion in long-term support via fuel and service contracts.”

“In other words, Vance spoke of $9 billion in economic activity taking place in the United States, not of investments to be made in Armenia,” she clarified.

Meloyan added that there’s no clarity on who would fund the estimated $5 billion in exports or $4 billion in service support.

“It’s obvious that the Armenian government cannot afford to pay such amounts, as Armenia simply lacks those resources and will not have them in the coming years. It’s equally clear that the U.S. government won’t be paying for these exports either; no country pays for its own exports,” she wrote.

“While Vance’s visit is certainly positive, it is unacceptable to deliberately misrepresent his statements and create baseless expectations among the Armenian public,” Meloyan concluded.

After his meeting with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Vance announced that Armenia and the United States had concluded negotiations on a Section 1-2-3 agreement in the civil nuclear energy sector, opening the way for major project agreements.