Visiting US Vice President JD Vance pledges as much as $9bn in potential investment in Armenia, which seeks to reduce reliance on Russian energy.<\/p>\n
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The United States and Armenia have struck an agreement on civil nuclear cooperation, amid a push by Washington to strengthen ties with the West Asian country that was once a close ally of Moscow.<\/p>\n
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and US Vice President JD \u2060Vance, who is on a two-day visit to the country, signed the multibillion-dollar nuclear energy deal on Monday.<\/p>\n
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The deal, known as a 123 Agreement, sees the US entering a sector previously dominated by Russia, which had supplied the technology for the only nuclear power plant in the republic.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis agreement will open a new chapter in the deepening energy partnership between Armenia and the United States,\u201d Pashinyan said at a joint news conference with Vance.<\/p>\n
Vance said the agreement, which allows the US to legally license nuclear technology and equipment to other countries, would enable up to $5bn in initial US exports to Armenia, plus an additional $4bn in longer-term fuel and maintenance contracts.<\/p>\n
The deal related to small modular reactors, he said, adding that Washington had enough confidence in Armenia to supply it with this new technology.<\/p>\n
Vance\u2019s visit \u2013 the first to Armenia by a sitting US president or vice president \u2013 comes six months after the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders signed an agreement at the White House, seen as the first step towards peace \u200cafter decades of war.<\/p>\n
Armenia seeking to diversify partners<\/p>\n
Yerevan, which has relied on Moscow and Tehran to meet its energy needs, has been reviewing proposals \u2060from US, Russian, Chinese, French and South Korean companies to construct a new nuclear reactor.<\/p>\n
The facility would replace its ageing Russian-built nuclear power plant in Metsamor.<\/p>\n
The agreement with Washington clears the way for a US plant to be chosen \u2013 a development that would deal a blow to Russia, which has viewed the South Caucasus as its sphere of influence.<\/p>\n
Narek Sukiasyan, a political scientist \u200cin Yerevan, told the Reuters news agency that given Armenia\u2019s multiple dependencies on Russia, it was a \u201cpolitical priority to diversify partners when it comes to nuclear cooperation\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe United States seems to be the preference now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin told media outlet Izvestia that a Russian proposal for a new nuclear plant was the best option for Armenia, and that Russia\u2019s state nuclear corporation Rosatom was ready to proceed \u201cvery quickly\u201d with the project.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are no real alternatives in terms of the availability of reliable, proven technologies, as well as the attractiveness of financial parameters,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
During his trip, Vance is also seeking to advance plans for the so-called Trump Route for International \u2060Peace and Prosperity<\/a> (TRIPP), a proposed 43km (27-mile) corridor that would run across southern Armenia and give Azerbaijan a direct route to its exclave of Nakhchivan and on to its close ally, Turkiye.<\/p>\n
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Pashinyan, left, and Vance in Yerevan [Kevin Lamarque\/Pool via Reuters]<\/p>\n