Trump advisor Rudy Giuliani 'planning trip to Armenia'

Rudy Giuliani, a former mayor of New York who currently serves as an advisor to US President Donald Trump, is planning to conduct a trip to Armenia.

His visit will not be part of a regional tour; the US official is coming to the country on a private visit to take part in the Eurasian Economic Commission’s forum, political analyst Suren Sargsyan said on Facebook on Friday. 
 
“Giuliani is Trump’s loyalist, his friend and advisor. He is also a personal attorney to Trump.  At the time of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack, he was the mayor of New York,” reads his post.

In comments to Tert.am later on Friday, Sargsyan said that the visit has no political agenda. “He is coming to Armenia not in the status of the US presidential advisor on cyber security issues or a person in charge for a lawyers’ team but rather – as the founder of Giuliani Partners. He will be in Armenia on a private visit.”

The trip is anyway expected to be a good occcasion for revising, and upgrading the US-Armenia relations to a new level.

“Our country’s leadership will establish a direct contact with him. The acquaintance will potentially promote also further ties with the US leadership. He may be a contact person between Yerevan and Washington,” Sargsyan added.

Describing Giuliani as a ‘confirmed Republican’ who actively backed Trump in the period of his presidential campaign, Sargsyan said he also knows that Trump had even proposed him the office of Secretary of State. “He rejected the proposal and now serves as an aide to Trump on legal affairs”.

Sargsyan noted that the visit also coincides with National Security Advisor John Bolton's upcoming trip, a fact which he said is thought to be very crucial in terms of proposing a new interstate agenda. “I think Armenia can offer its assistance to the United States' [peacekeeping mission] in Afghanistan. It will be a unique kind of balance between both the US and Azerbaijan, and Pakistan and Armenia, but also in the Pakistan-US relations. That, generally, will be a very important political move to balance also the presence of the armed forces of Armenia.”

The best outcome of the visits, Sargsyan said, may be the development of bilateral strategic relations in different areas, including particularly, economy and international security.  

“It would be advisable for us to sign a kind of document which Kazakhstan had earlier signed with the United States in the course of Nazarbaev’s trip to Washington. Establishing that kind of strategic relations will be very important for us,” he added.