Overall, Mirzoyan's Washington Visit Was a Failure: Sargsyan

Ararat Mirzoyan did not raise issues regarding the status of Artsakh and the right to self-determination during his visit to Washington. This was stated on his Facebook page by international relations expert Suren Sargsyan.

"Overall, Mirzoyan's visit to Washington was a failure. Let me justify:

1. The 30th anniversary of establishing relations was a serious opportunity to reassess and renew the agenda, which did not happen.
2. Considering the 30 years of history, the Americans provided a meeting at the Secretary of State level. Unfortunately, that meeting was not utilized to discuss serious agenda issues or to advance an agenda that serves our interests.
3. Instead, a document on cooperation in the field of Civil Nuclear Energy was signed, which has no relevance to Armenia's vital interests—it is an American agenda, and the Americans sign this document with dozens of developing countries.
4. Throughout nearly a dozen meetings, Ararat Mirzoyan did not raise questions related to the status of Artsakh, recognition of Artsakh's independence, and the right to self-determination. As you can see, it is the American side that raises these issues instead.
5. Regarding Congress: Are you not aware of other congress members or senators? There are 100 senators and 435 congress members in the U.S. Don't you have a desire to make new friends? Why do you keep interacting with the same group of ten?
6. A meeting was organized with Mirzoyan at the Atlantic Council think tank (are you not aware of other think tanks?), which was attended by only 20 people, including staff from the embassy and the official delegation, occupying more than half the room.
7. It was evident that the Armenian side wanted to extract a few crucial messages from Washington to use in the domestic political arena. Notably, messages related to government's reforms with American support. This phrase has been heard by all of Armenia’s governments without exception, starting from Vazgen Manukyan's cabinet. It is necessary to benefit from it, rather than turning it into a domestic political message.

P.S. 1 An active trip does not necessarily equate to effective diplomacy.

P.S. 2 It was wrong to travel to Washington on such an important occasion with such a pitiful agenda and waste an opportunity.