James O’Brien: The US is creating conditions for severing ties between Armenia and Russia

The U․S․ is considering the possibility of creating a new overland route from the countries of Central Asia to global markets via Armenia and Azerbaijan, bypassing Russia and China, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs James O’Brien said.

“Central Asian countries are incredibly rich, and currently their only options for accessing world markets are mainly via Russia or China. If we manage to open a road that runs through Armenia or Azerbaijan, they will have access to the global market and be less dependent on Russia and China,” O’Brien said in testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

In his speech, the State Department representative also referred to the situation in Armenia, noting that the U.S. strives to help the country gain independence in economic and energy sectors.

“It is almost completely dependent on Russia in terms of energy and economy; we need to diversify its policy so that Armenia can take the bold steps Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is urging the country to take, which will mean severing ties with Russia,” O’Brien added.

He noted that a significant part of the Armenian population wants to leave Russia. In turn, the U.S. authorities are creating conditions for this, O’Brien admitted.