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The South Caucasus has never been a region of strategic importance for the United States, political analyst Suren Sargsyan claims.

“No U.S. president starting with George Bush Sr. has ever had a national security strategy where this region would be designated as strategically important for Washington,” he told a roundtable discussion in Yerevan on Saturday.

Meanwhile, according to him, the U.S. has always considered the South Caucasus as significant, taking into account its geographical location and the possibility to weaken Russia's influence in the region.

“There has been a longstanding view among American political and analytical circles that the settlement of conflicts in the South Caucasus will lead to a reduction of Russian influence in the region. As I have already said, the geographical factor is also important for the U.S., as the region borders its staunch rival Russia, irreconcilable enemy Iran and Washington's strategic ally Turkey,” Sargsyan explained.

He underscored that since Armenia's independence, the U.S. has sought to promote the resolution of conflicts, including the Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenian-Turkish conflicts.

“Whenever there was an opportunity for settlement, American diplomacy was actively engaged in the process,” he stated.

The expert attributed the active U.S. efforts in the region after the 2020 Artsakh war to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

“In addition, the U.S. sees an opportunity to resolve the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict and normalize Armenian-Turkish relations, since the current government in Armenia is ready to make any concessions as long as everything goes well with Turkey and Azerbaijan,” he added.