After the assassination attempt of July 13, 2024, former US president and presidential candidate Donald Trump is again in the center of attention of the world press. In the “Key” section we present episodes from the interaction between Trump and the members of his administration and Armenia.
“Good things” about Aliyev
In 2016, the newly elected US President Donald Trump said that he “heard very good things” about the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev. According to the news release of Azerbaijani presidential press service, Trump said this in a telephone conversation with Ilham Aliyev on November 17, which took place at the latter’s initiative.
Ilham Aliyev said that the two countries “have great potential” to boost bilateral ties.
Appointment and dismissal of the expert on the South Caucasus
In 2017 Brookings Institution Senior Research Fellow Fiona Hill was offered to take the position of Special Assistant to the U.S. President and Senior Director for Europe and Russia at the National Security Council.
Hill was one of the few American experts who had solid knowledge of the South Caucasus region.
In November 2004 Fiona Hill stated that the South Caucasus did not have a common agenda, which could contribute to the joint development of the region’s countries.
Fiona HillIn June 2015, Fiona Hill and two colleagues published an article titled “Confidence Games: Azerbaijan, the European Olympics and the West” which analyzed the reasons of cooling in relations between Baku and Western partners. In particular, the article stated that “for Azerbaijan, the West’s forceful response and sanctions against Moscow after its annexation of Crimea stands in sharp contrast to the muted international reactions to the decades-long occupation by Armenian-backed forces of nearly one-fifth of Azerbaijan’s territory.”
The authors of that article noted that “measures towards resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should be developed and backed by real incentives that boost the benefits of peace for both sides” in order to restore trust between Azerbaijan and the West.
Fiona Hill left the position in August 2019.
The odyssey of former US ambassadors to Armenia - episode one
In January 2017, the former US ambassador to Armenia John Heffern was appointed acting US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs. He replaced Victoria Nuland, becoming one of the officials responsible for the development and implementation of American policy in the European and Eurasian regions, including the South Caucasus.
In August 2017, the website of Foreign Policy magazine, citing its sources in the current and former administrations, wrote that Heffern is being “pushed out” of his job as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs.
John HeffernIn July of 2017 U.S. President Donald Trump nominated A. Wess Mitchell to be an Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs. Foreign Policy wrote that Heffern would have then returned to his permanent assignment as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for European Affairs, serving as a key lieutenant to Mitchell, but he “is being forced out”.
“It’s just another indication of the administration hollowing out top talent with real institutional knowledge,” one former State Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Foreign Policy.
The odyssey of former US ambassadors to Armenia - episode two
In 2019, Marie Yovanovitch, the US ambassador to Kyiv, appeared at the center of the scandal. From 2008-2011 Yovanovitch served as US Ambassador to Armenia.
The son of US President Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., called for the replacement of Marie Yovanovitch, whom he called “Obama’s ambassador” acting against the current head of state.
Before that, the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Yuriy Lutsenko, made a sensational confession in the summer of 2016, saying that Marie Yovanovitch handed him a list of “friends of the embassy” against whom no criminal case can be initiated.
Marie YovanovitchFormer US Attorney General Joe diGenova also said in an interview with Fox News that “Marie Yovanovitch spoke badly about the US president in conversations with Ukrainian officials and called on them not to listen to Trump and not to worry about his policies, as he will be impeached.”
Congratulations to Pashinyan
In May 2018 President of the United States Donald Trump congratulated Nikol Pashinyan on his election as Prime Minister of Armenia.
“I look forward to working with you on the many areas of mutual interest for our two countries, including strengthening trade ties, democratic institutions, and regional security,” Donald Trump’s message read.
The failed meeting between Trump and Pashinyan
In July 2018, the leaders of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues started collecting signatures for a letter to US President, encouraging Donald Trump to meet with Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan during the United Nations summit in New York in September.
Spokesperson for Armenia’s Foreign Ministry Tigran Balayan said that Pashinyan and Trump “will have other occasions to meet.”
“We wanted to organize a meeting during Nikol Pashinyan’s visit to the United States, but the schedules of the parties were too packed,” Balayan said.
Cancellation of Trump’s lawyer’s visit
In September 2019, Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York, US President Donald Trump’s lawyer, chairman of the board of directors of Giuliani Security and Safety Company, canceled his trip to Yerevan, where he was supposed to participate in the Eurasian Partnership International Conference.
Giuliani was on a private visit to Armenia in October 2018 and met with the Acting Minister of Defense of Armenia Davit Tonoyan.
“Don’t be a fool!” and not be a “devil”
In October 2019, US President Donald Trump, addressed a letter to Turkish President Recep Erdogan, urging him not to be “a fool.” The US president sent the letter on October 9, when Turkey launched offensive against the Kurds in Syria.
Photo: REUTERS
A few days later, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the United States could use military force against Turkey in Syria if necessary.
“We prefer peace to war. However, if military action is needed, President Trump is fully ready to initiate that action,” the US Secretary of State said in an interview with CNBC.
John Bolton, the former national security adviser otof the US President, wrote about the relationship between Trump and Erdogan and “obscene deals” in his book.
The call of October 1, 2020
Presidents of Russia, USA and France Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron, in a joint statement adopted on October 1, 2020, called for an immediate cessation of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Photo: REUTERS
“We call on the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to immediately commit, in good faith and without any preconditions, to resuming the negotiations on the settlement with the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs,” the statement read but to no avail.
Biden’s call
On October 14, 2020, US presidential candidate Joe Biden made a statement regarding the developments in Nagorno-Karabakh, in which he said, in particular, that the Trump administration must clearly tell Azerbaijan that it would not tolerate Baku’s efforts to impose a military solution to this conflict.
“It must make clear to Armenia that regions surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh cannot be occupied indefinitely and that credible negotiations on a lasting resolution of the conflict must commence immediately once a ceasefire is concluded. Finally, it must stop coddling Ankara and tell both Turkey and Iran to stay out of this conflict. Turkey’s provision of arms to Azerbaijan and bellicose rhetoric encouraging a military solution are irresponsible,” Biden said.
“We are going to help Armenians”
On October 23, 2020 Donald Trump said:
“We work with Armenia. We have very good relations with Armenia. They are very nice people, very dedicated. We’ll see what happens. I think there is excellent progress. We have a lot of people living in this country from Armenia. They are great people and we are going to help them.”
Pashinyan’s questions to Pompeo
On October 26, 2020, Nikol Pashinyan spoke about his phone conversation with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
He said that the leaders of Russia, France and USA sincerely wanted the ceasefire to be established and put their names under those efforts.
“In case of the United States, the issue is getting more urgent due to the election campaign there, and it is actually about President Trump’s ability to influence the international situation,” said Nikol Pashinyan.
Prepared by Ara Tadevosyan
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