Digital Press Briefing with the Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs James O’Brien and USAID Assistant Administrator Erin McKee

MODERATOR:  Good afternoon from the State Department’s Brussels Media Hub.  I would like to welcome everyone joining us for today’s virtual press briefing.  Today, we’re very honored to be joined by Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs Ambassador James O’Brien and USAID Assistant Administrator in the Bureau for Europe and Eurasia Erin McKee. 

And finally, a reminder that today’s briefing is on the record.  And with that, let’s get started.  I want to thank both of our distinguished speakers for joining us today, and I’ll turn it over to Assistant Secretary O’Brien for his opening remarks.   

ASSISTANT SECRETARY O’BRIEN:  Thank you, Dan.  Thank you, everyone, for joining us here today.  Today the Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, President Ursula von der Leyen from the European Commission, and Prime Minister Pashinyan met in Brussels to discuss the future relations with Armenia.  The purpose of the meeting was to help focus on Armenia’s economic diversification, its political reforms, and on humanitarian assistance.   

I’ll set a little bit of the stage of the work that we did today, and then my colleague, Ambassador McKee, will describe some of the U.S. programs in support of specific areas of Armenia’s development.  

The Secretary and President von der Leyen, High Representative Borrell, all began by emphasizing that we strongly support Armenia’s independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.  We also noted our admiration for the democratic transformation in Armenia since the 2018 Velvet Revolution.  We’ve seen substantial reforms and efforts to build a global economy and a political system that will reflect the democratic aspirations of the people of Armenia.  So our goal is to continue that.  

We also know that this meeting is happening in a context where there are ongoing efforts to reach a peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan.  This meeting was about reforms in Armenia, but we certainly encouraged Armenia to continue the path toward peace and try to achieve a final agreement with Azerbaijan.  This is the best path for the region to have security over the long term and the development of prosperity, particularly new trading routes that could run from the Mediterranean into Central Asia.  So we welcome all of those steps. 

The Secretary emphasized that progress in political reforms would create the conditions for an inclusive government that will respond to the will of its people and help with diversity and partnerships around the world.  So we’ll continue to support Armenia’s reforms as we do that.  

In broad terms, as the Secretary said, in the past fiscal year we provided $65 million in assistance.  There is specific money that has gone into a variety of programs, both humanitarian and economic reform, and assistance as Armenia reforms its administrative structures and develops a strong future.  

In the meeting itself – and I’ll say just a word about participation in the meeting – as I mentioned, it was President von der Leyen, High Representative Borrell, Prime Minister Pashinyan, Secretary Blinken, and Administrator Samantha Power from USAID.  It was important to all of them that they meet together in person.  This allowed for a very open exchange of views about the issues facing Armenia and the role that greater cooperation and support from the United States and the European Union can provide in delivering that assistance.   

There are many examples of this assistance.  We’re happy to go into some of them.  But they are thematically grouped around, again, the diversification of the Armenian economy, political reforms within Armenia, and humanitarian assistance.  Armenia has undertaken a huge responsibility of assisting with a number of new entrants between those who came after the war of Russia’s unjustified invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the hundred thousands who moved from the – last fall from Nagorno-Karabakh, and we understand that in a country the size of Armenia this requires support from friends to help with those people’s integration, the peaceful right of return if that’s what they so choose, but also for Armenia to be able to provide the kind of life that people deserve and want in a democratic, prosperous society.   

With that, I’m going to pause.  And Erin, I’ll suggest maybe you can provide some detail on the points and the – on the programs that we have, and then we’ll pick up some questions.  Thank you all.  

AMBASSADOR MCKEE:  Perfect, thank you.  Hello, everyone.  Thank you for joining us and thank you, Assistant Secretary O’Brien, for kicking us off.  As Ambassador O’Brien mentioned, we are here to reaffirm our efforts to support a democratic and prosperous Armenia and our unwavering support for Armenia’s democracy, economic resilience, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.   

To demonstrate our commitment, the Secretary this morning announced new and significant support for advancing democracy, energy independence, food security, and economic integration in excess of 65 million.  We are excited to continue to work with the Government of Armenia to cement hard-won gains. 

Following the events last fall in Nagorno-Karabakh, USAID plans to provide nearly 8.5 million in psychosocial support and address housing and shelter needs for displaced persons and refugees.  With this funding, USAID will partner with national and local governments as well as nongovernmental organizations to concretely demonstrate to the people of Armenia that their democracy is delivering.  And USAID will ensure that those in need have access to state-sponsored services by helping the Government of Armenia communicate these opportunities.   

We are also focused on building Armenia’s energy security and independence.  Our new $8.6 million program will improve Armenia’s ability to access and integrate increased renewable energy.  Further, contingency planning will provide Armenia a coordinated response in the event of supply disruptions, while improving energy efficiency.  This funding will also strengthen Armenia’s ability to better manage critical cybersecurity vulnerabilities to the country’s energy infrastructure.   

USAID will also help stabilize food security for Armenia by supporting efforts to increase the grain production and storage capacity of Armenian farmers.  The upcoming $6 million food security program will increase agricultural productivity of staple crops in a climate-smart and efficient manner.  This is – this will be done through modernizing Armenia’s food system, and we can increase domestic production and reduce dependence on imports. 

We will also continue, as Ambassador O’Brien mentioned, to support needed reform and enhanced government capacity.  This work, which is grounded in digital democracy, will modernize and expand Armenia’s approach to public administration, trade diversification, and economic integration.  But most importantly, we are focused on supporting the people of Armenia with human dignity as a top priority.  We have expanded our efforts through the newly announced $2.5 million program to address crimes involving violence or threats of violence targeting LGBTQI persons, discrimination, labor rights violations, and gender-based violence.  USAID will also help capture and preserve any evidence of atrocities in recent conflicts so that those responsible are held accountable for their actions.   

I look forward to discussing our commitments in further detail and answering any questions you may have.  Thank you very much for your time and again for joining us today.  Back over to you. 

MODERATOR:  Okay.  Thank you very much to both of our speakers.  We will now turn to the question-and-answer portion of today’s briefing. 

So I’m going to read a couple of questions here to start us off and then we can jump into the response.  So the first question comes from Anush Movsisyan from Armenia Today Independent Agency of Armenia, and the question is:  “Tell us about the key areas of support for Armenia.  We’re interested in the sphere of business support for displaced residents of Artsakh.  What additional programs are you going to implement?  Exhibitions of business products of resettled Artsakh residents are being held in Yerevan.  Will it be possible to hold such events in the USA and Europe?”  So that is our first question.   

I’ll go ahead and read a second question here.  The second question comes from Gor Madoyan from Radar Armenia, and the second question is:  “What approaches is the United States considering for the future diversification of Armenia’s nuclear energy?  And are there ongoing discussions regarding potential cooperation with the Armenian Government?” 

And for the third question, let me go to a question from Lusine Petrosyan from Hraparak Daily in Armenia.  And the question is the following:  “It was stated continuously that the economic resilience of Armenia will be discussed at the April 5 meeting.  It’s obvious that the greatest obstacle in the way to Armenia’s economic resilience, development, and prosperity is the unlawful and hostile closure of Armenia’s border by Türkiye.  What role may the U.S. play in lifting this obstacle and further establishment of a transport corridor from the historically Armenian Cilicia at the Eastern Mediterranean seashore to present-day Armenia?  Such a corridor will drastically change a lot in the Near East, South Caucasus and beyond.” 

So those are our three questions to get us started, and I will turn it over to Assistant Secretary O’Brien. 

ASSISTANT SECRETARY O’BRIEN:  Thanks.  So, Erin, why don’t I start on a few of these and then we can trade off if – to the extent we need to. 

I’ll begin with the final question.  On economic diversification, resilience, and the border, we’ve had extensive conversations with all the countries in the region, from Türkiye, frankly, through to Central Asia about the importance of building a strong transport corridor.  And I believe there’s great willingness and interest in seeing movement in that direction.   

Two specific things that were discussed today: one, Administrator Power announced a study of the possibilities of such a trade corridor.  It can bring goods from Central Asia, so grain, energy, textiles, other products from that region can come and transit all the way, as was said, to the Mediterranean.  There is another possible route that would run into the Black Sea as well.  And this sort of middle corridor, this transit corridor, will be available for all the people of the region to benefit and to create industries that benefit from the movement of these kinds of goods.  So we will begin to lay out an economic vision and then it will be on the people of each state, but especially including Armenia, to make decisions about how it will invest in and around such a corridor should one be built. 

We’re not alone in doing this.  The Europeans – various European institutions have also begun studying this project.  The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development held a meeting on just this kind of conference, and I believe Ambassador McKee and others from AID were – participated in that and will be picking up those conversations as we go forward. 

The fundamental part of such an investment is to have peace in the region.  This is a generational project, one that would change the economies of Central Asian countries because they would have transit outlets other than through Russia or China, all the way through to Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, and Türkiye.  This kind of commitment requires stability and peace.  So we have made clear our willingness to support the development of this project in every way we can if the countries of the region are able to agree and they’re exercising their sovereign capacities that they would like to see this corridor built.  I think it is an outstanding project that carries enormous potential for the people of the region, and we’ll be very supportive, as the Secretary, President, administrator, and high representative said today. 

On diversification of Armenia’s nuclear energy, I’d recommend two steps.  We are – the European Union has already begun working closely on the development and improvement of, say, safety and efficiency in the existing nuclear energy sources in Armenia and is working more broadly.  Armenia is also an important country for the U.S. civil nuclear cooperation projects.   The U.S. and Armenia are exploring opportunities in the area of civil nuclear energy cooperation.  It builds on an agreement that was signed in 2022 on civil nuclear cooperation.  And this will create the possibility of identifying a few specific projects that we will work on as we go forward.   

So in the beginning, as Armenia weighs its replacement options, we’ll fund feasibility studies and engage in scientific exchanges to identify new opportunities and begin to explore financing options for Armenia’s diversification.   

And I think on the first question, we tried to answer it at the beginning.  But again, we were looking at an integrated package of economic diversification, political reforms, and stability and peace throughout the region as the goal, all while addressing the humanitarian assistance needs of Armenia as it deals with the recent challenges.  So all of those things should come together and produce an outcome that will be a bright future for the people of Armenia and is not something to be tied to just one project or another.  

But with that, Erin, I’ll turn this over to you.  

AMBASSADOR MCKEE:  Sure.  Thanks, Jim.  And I’d just like to add a little bit more granularity regarding our prosperity or economic growth focus.  We are working both at the national level and in all of Armenia’s 10 regions to promote inclusive economic growth and rural development, but that is also focused on high-value-added sectors.  And this work is – dovetails with what we hope to achieve in expanding connectivity, as Ambassador O’Brien outlined, to ensure that the innovation, trade competitiveness, and better natural resource management undergirded by energy diversification boosts Armenia’s ability to both produce more on the high-value end and access more markets and, obviously, through that achieve increased prosperity.  

I’d like to give one example.  Our rural economic development program has helped over 59 businesses unlock over $3 million in investments just over the last couple of years.  And this contributed to an average revenue growth of 20 percent for those businesses that participated, which dramatically outperformed Armenia’s agriculture sector as a whole.  We’re prepared now to take, obviously, that foundation and expand it as we work on both the feasibility studies and start opening up more routes and greater market diversification to ensure that Armenia’s high-value and innovative products reach even greater markets.   

And these – all of these efforts – back to both the post-fall response and what we need to do to ensure that livelihoods are available to all people of Armenia – is to increase jobs and decrease income disparities and promote this economic security through the trade diversification.  Over. 

MODERATOR:  Okay.  Thank you both very much.  I’d like to now put in two more questions here.  And so the first one comes from Ara Tadevosyan.  Unfortunately, I don’t have the outlet in front of me, but in any case, the question is:  “Azerbaijani president today said publicly that the trilateral meeting was aimed at isolating his country.  What will be – what is your response to this?” 

And then a question from Andrew Rettman from the EUobserver.  It’s a very general question, and the question is:  “Is Russia doing anything to disrupt your activities in Armenia?”  And presumably this means the U.S. and potentially the EU activities of support in Armenia.   

And I will turn it over to our speakers for their responses to those. 

ASSISTANT SECRETARY O’BRIEN:  Thanks, Dan.  Again, I’ll take them in reverse order.  So on Russia, look, we see Russia playing – plays a historic role in – a legacy role in Armenia and across the South Caucasus.  We hope it can be supportive of the people of Armenia as they choose as a path of democracy reform and economic prosperity.  We know that this will be an ongoing conversation between the authorities in Yerevan and the authorities in Moscow, but that it – so one where it’s very clear what the people of Armenia have chosen.  And we feel it’s important to support and be respectful of their decision. 

Across the region, we see Russian-backed disinformation efforts, and this kind of media information manipulation is to be expected.  I think you’ve seen it with regard to this conference, where there have been allegations about what the conference is or isn’t.  It’s very clearly a way of supporting the political path that people of Armenia have chosen, and doing it in a way that encourages the kind of regional and peaceful economic integration that we support and that the Government of Armenia would like, but also that the Government of Azerbaijan has said that it will pursue. 

The – I have not seen the comments that were mentioned.  What I would say is that both Secretary Blinken and President von der Leyen spoke with President Aliyev over the past two days.  The conversations were very good and constructive, and our note was that we are pursuing exactly the course we have described today.  The president understood that.  He has views and preferences about how we might do it, but also has said that the relationship of each country with Europe and with the United States is a matter for each country.  And so we’ll take that spirit and we will continue to work in support of efforts by Armenia and Azerbaijan to reach a just and durable peace.  That is the best path for the region, and it’s what we would like to see happen. 

Erin, do you have anything to add, particularly around the AID projects? 

AMBASSADOR MCKEE:  Nothing more at this point, Jim. 

ASSISTANT SECRETARY O’BRIEN:  Okay.  So, Dan, maybe you can take a look and see if you have a question that’s been upvoted so much we cannot ignore it.  I feel like we’re – I’m starting to repeat myself. 

MODERATOR:  Yes.  We actually do not have a question that has been upvoted all that much.  I would go to one of our journalists who has raised his hand, and this would be the final question for today.   

ASSISTANT SECRETARY O’BRIEN:  That sounds good.   

MODERATOR:  If everyone would be all right with that.  So —  

ASSISTANT SECRETARY O’BRIEN:  (Inaudible) all of you whose questions failed to get support, but we’ll do our best to answer this one. 

MODERATOR:  All right.  So let’s go to Alex Raufoglu, and he is from the Turan News Agency.   

QUESTION:  Hey, thank you so much for doing this.  Alex Raufoglu from Turan News Agency.  I want to follow up on – Ambassador, what you just said about Azerbaijan’s position.  You guys have spent the entire week to convince Azerbaijani side that this is not about them.  But yet, as my colleague from Armenia mentioned, that the Azerbaijan president still repeats the same talking point that this is going to create a divisive line.   

Why do you think your explanation has not been convincing enough?  Are they looking to a different side, maybe they are listening to Russia, given Russian narrative on this topic?  As you mentioned, there’s fake news going around and – coming from Moscow, surprisingly, is not different from what we hear from Baku on this.  And secondly, does the Secretary believe that Armenia’s future lays in Europe, in European Union?  Thank you so much. 

ASSISTANT SECRETARY O’BRIEN:  Well, I think on the second point, it – the Secretary made clear we support the political choices of the people of Armenia.  The decision of what economic group they join is entirely up to them.  We’re not a member of the group that they are part of or of the European Union, so it’s really not for us to say anything about that future.  But it is clear that the people of Armenia are choosing a path of prosperity and integration into global markets.  That requires a set of reforms and support so that Armenia’s businesses are able to take advantage of these opportunities.  Erin has described some of what we are doing.  I’d urge all the journalists to speak with European Union officials.  They announced a program of intensifying business cooperation and investment as well.  All of those things go to how the country positions itself as it goes forward.   

I never felt it was our business to convince Azerbaijan about the conference.  We have been very clear about what we intended to do, we have done exactly as we said, and I think that doing what one promises is how trust gets built.  So that is, I see, the way forward, not about a set of arguments or discussions.  But we are very open in discussing our plans with the governments of the region so that there are no surprises, and we feel very good about that process in this case.  We’ll always endeavor to do that better if we need to.   

But I think you’d have to ask people in Azerbaijan why they do what they do.  Our position is simply that we’re supporting the choices that Armenia’s people have made, and we’ll continue to do that in a way that promotes the peace and security and prosperity of the region as a whole.  So we’ve been very clear and we’ll stay with our own statements.  

Thanks, Dan.  Erin, do you have a final comment? 

AMBASSADOR MCKEE:  Yes – sorry, my video is not cooperating; I apologize.  I couldn’t agree more.  And I think hopefully what you all heard today is our efforts to support Armenia’s choice and their hope to preserve and protect those choices, whether it’s economic diversification, energy security, or opportunity for livelihoods, peace, and stability for all of its citizens.  And so that is both our intention and what we are ramping up to expand and deliver in a meaningful way at the request of the Armenian people and its government.  So I really appreciate the time taken today to understand a bit about what that partnership across the board will – when successful, will deliver.  Over.   

MODERATOR:  All right, very good.  We have reached the end of our time for today, unfortunately.  I want to thank both of our ambassadors for joining us today.  Ambassador O’Brien, Ambassador McKee, thank you very much.  I believe we’ve just heard the final wrap-up comment.  I don’t know if there was any additional final wrap-up comment.  I’d just give the opportunity for that, and if not, then that will be the end of our press briefing for today.  So thank you to our speakers and to everyone who joined us.   

In a short amount of time, the Brussels Hub will send out the audio recording of this briefing to all the journalists who took part, and we will provide a transcript as soon as it’s available.  And we’d be very interested in hearing your feedback, which can come to TheBrusselsHub@state.gov.  That’s “TheBrusselsHub” as one word.  Thank you again for your participation, and we hope you can join us again at another press briefing soon.  This ends today’s briefing.   

ASSISTANT SECRETARY O’BRIEN:  Thanks, everyone.  

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