YEREVAN – US Vice President J.D. Vance concluded a landmark two-day visit to Armenia on February 10, the first-ever trip by a US official of his rank, with agreements spanning defense, energy, and regional economic development.
Vance met with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to finalize deliveries of V-BAT reconnaissance drones worth $11 million, marking the first major US defense-technology sale to Armenia. The deal, executed through the Foreign Military Sales program, is aimed at strengthening Armenia’s deterrence and building a long-term defense partnership.
Read More: Armenia signs 123 Agreement with United States
The visit also advanced the Trump Road to International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) initiative, a multibillion-dollar regional infrastructure project designed to link Armenia and Azerbaijan via railways, pipelines, power transmission, and fiber-optic cables. Ownership of the railway concession would be split 74% US, 24% Armenia, for 49 years. Vance said TRIPP will unlock trade, energy flows, and cross-border connectivity while supporting post-conflict stabilization.
VP JD Vance announces a new civil nuclear deal with Armenia:
“It means stronger energy security for my own country, and it also means stronger energy security for Armenia, and it is also going to create a lot of new jobs back in the United States.” pic.twitter.com/IrgM2YuorO
— Conservative War Machine (@WarMachineRR) February 9, 2026
On energy, both sides moved forward on a “123 Agreement” for peaceful nuclear cooperation, opening the path for US exports of small modular reactors and $9 billion in associated fuel and maintenance support. This would diversify Armenia’s nuclear sector, long dominated by Russian technology, despite Moscow’s readiness to propose an alternative project.
High-tech cooperation was also finalized, with plans for an AI plant and large data center in partnership with US firm Firebird. The project, using NVIDIA GPUs, will expand Armenia’s supercomputing capacity to 50,000 GPUs, making it one of the world’s five largest AI hubs.
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The visit included discussions on normalizing relations with Turkey, including reopening the Gyumri–Kars railway, and Vance publicly endorsed Pashinyan ahead of elections in June. Meanwhile, Armenian activists urged Washington to prioritize humanitarian concerns, including the release of detainees in Azerbaijan.
Analysts view Vance’s visit as a strategic deepening of US engagement in the South Caucasus, combining economic, defense, and energy tools to stabilize the region after decades of conflict.