Rubio to visit Yerevan ahead of key elections in Armenia

WASHINGTON

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will pay a visit to Yerevan on May 26, as Armenia prepares for a crucial general election on June 7.

The Armenian Foreign Ministry on May 24 announced that Rubio will hold talks with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan.

Mirzoyan and Rubio are expected to make joint statements to the press and several documents are likely to be signed between the two sides. The Armenian foreign minister is also scheduled to hold a separate press briefing.

The visit has drawn attention as it comes ahead of elections widely seen as a referendum on Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s peace and normalization agenda.

Pashinyan and his Civil Contract party are currently projected by leading polls to be ahead of pro-Russian opposition forces. However, securing first place alone will not be sufficient, the prime minister also faces the challenge of obtaining a three-quarters majority in parliament.

Such a supermajority is crucial because the final signing of a peace agreement with Azerbaijan, initialed in Washington last August, depends on constitutional amendments.

Pashinyan would need a three-quarters parliamentary majority to proceed with a constitutional referendum. Current polling suggests that achieving this threshold for the Civil Contract party is unlikely.

Armenia last received a high-level U.S. visit in February, when Vice President JD Vance traveled to Yerevan. During that visit, a U.S. delegation met with Pashinyan to discuss steps toward implementing a peace agreement before continuing on to Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan seized control of Karabakh in a lightning offensive in 2023, ending three decades of rule by Armenian separatists.

At a White House summit in August 2025, former U.S. President Donald Trump brokered an agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan, under which both sides agreed to renounce territorial claims against each other and refrain from the use of force.