VP Pool Report #5 bilat spray at Armenian palace

The expanded bilat took place in a cream and gold accented room with a long, oval butter yellow table. There were eight cream colored chairs on each side. On the far wall opposite press, there were three Armenian flags and three American flags.

The VP and Pashinyan entered at 6:24 p.m. and sat down.

Pashinyan started speaking first. He spoke in Armenian and his remarks were translated into English.

He noted the historic nature of Vance’s visit and remarked on the relationship between Armenia and the U.S.

“I would like to express my gratitude to United States president, Mr. Trump, and yourself,” he said, for organizing the summit at the White House last year.

“We are very close to that point, if not there yet,” he said, “of no return” in the pursuit of peace.

“We have a lot to discuss today” he said and called it a “positive agenda.”

Vance opened by thanking the PM and joked that, “Unfortunately, we had a private meeting earlier, and we solved all the issues we needed to solve,” which drew laughs, including from the PM.

He thanked the PM for his hospitality and said that Trump “sends his best.”

“The prime minister has been a great friend of ours and a real ally in peace and development in this region the world,” Vance said.

He said they would be announcing “a lot” when they speak to the press later.

He called Armenia a “beautiful country.”

“This is, of course, one of the oldest Christian cultures in the entire world, and so I feel a great amount of affinity to the people of Armenia, but also to you and to your administration,” Vance said.

He also said:

“I believe that we are at the point where we can actually have Armenia serve as an important increment for economic development in this region of the world, which will both persist and maintain the peace agreement, but also could lead to a lot of prosperity for the people of Armenia, and importantly to me, to the people of the United States. So we're going to keep on working on these things. This visit is just an important step.”

He said he was honored to be the first vice president to come to Armenia.

Vance indicated he will take questions at the next event. It should be streamed live.

The pool was pulled after five minutes.

Michelle L. Price

White House Reporter

The Associated Press

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