Global ARM-supported Congressional Briefing Highlights U.S.-Armenia Ties Ahead of Key Parliamentary Elections

Washington, D.C. — The U.S. Helsinki Commission held a key congressional briefing today that underscored Armenia’s historic westward shift, the strategic importance of regional connectivity, and the urgency of countering malign Russian influence in the South Caucasus.

“Today’s briefing made clear that Armenia’s success is central to U.S. interests in the South Caucasus,” said Global ARM President Tim Jemal. “This has been Global ARM’s top priority since forming this Diaspora-led nonprofit nearly four years ago. The Trump administration deserves significant credit for recognizing Armenia’s growing importance to the United States,” he added.

Witnesses Michael Carpenter, Senior Fellow for Transatlantic Affairs at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, and Michael Cecire, Defense and Security Policy Researcher at RAND Corporation, offered detailed testimony on current U.S. policy toward Armenia, the South Caucasus, and Turkey. The briefing also raised Azerbaijan’s unlawful detention of at least nineteen Armenian prisoners, though it did not address the central issue of Azerbaijani occupation of sovereign Armenian territory.

Carpenter emphasized the stakes of the upcoming parliamentary vote: “This is a pivotal election for Armenia, and the United States has a major stake in the outcome.”

Carpenter further stressed the need for deeper bilateral engagement, stating, “The United States must strengthen ties with Armenia in energy and economic cooperation to help counter the pressure it faces.” He also highlighted the significance of the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP): “TRIPP envisions railroads, fiber-optic cables, natural gas pipelines, and electricity infrastructure, making it a key node in the Middle Corridor linking Europe and Central Asia.”

Addressing the Turkish blockade of Armenia and Armenian prisoners held in Azerbaijan, Carpenter said, “I would like to see the release of detainees as a measure of goodwill… Turkey has a lot of work to do; it has withheld many of the benefits of normalization.”

Cecire underscored Armenia’s importance to U.S. national interests: “This administration understands that a stable, democratic Armenia is in the interest of U.S. national security.”

Cecire highlighted Russia’s betrayal, Armenia’s growing strategic importance, and the challenge this shift poses to Moscow’s regional ambitions: “This administration understands that a stable and democratic Armenia is in the interest of U.S. national security…It is hard to overestimate the significance of this pivot because, for years, it was considered a distant dream.”

Cecire also addressed Russia’s role in the 44-day Nagorno-Karabakh war, stating: “There is an underlying sentiment that Russia abandoned Armenia during the 2020 war.”

“Global ARM thanks the Helsinki Commission for organizing this timely briefing at a seminal moment for U.S. interests in Armenia and the South Caucasus”, said Jemal.

To view the full briefing, Click Here.