On 24 September, the Armenian Radio Free Europe reported that the Armenian government and the Alston & Bird law firm signed a one-month contract worth $10,000. The signatories of the contract were Armenia’s Ambassador to the US Varuzhan Nersesyan and Bob Dole, a former pro-Armenian U.S. senator who now works as a special counsel at Alston & Bird.
“During the course of this engagement, Alston & Bird will monitor current events relevant to US-Armenia relations and provide strategic counsel with respect to improvement of that relationship. These services may include outreach to United States Government officials as well as Members of Congress and their staffs,” wrote Dole on the details of the contract.
According to the official information, the lobbying firm will help Yerevan prepare for the final round of the US-Armenia Strategic Dialogue which will take place in Washington next month. The Armenian delegation is expected to be headed by Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan. However, the head of the US and Canada desk at the Armenian Foreign Ministry Armella Shakaryan stated that the scope of the lobbying firm’s activities may be widened. “We expect the implementation of more far-reaching projects and the development of economic ties with the United States,” she said. She also added that “defence and security issues are also on the agenda of the dialogue.”
The Alston & Bird contract marks the first time that the Armenian embassy has had a US lobbyist since 1994, according to a review of lobbying records. It was reported that in the first half of 2020, the Armenian National Committee of America spent $60,000 on lobbying activities and the Armenian Assembly of America another $40,000 on several issues including rethinking US security assistance to the two countries. In addition, the de facto government of the internationally unrecognized Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh has had a Washington mission since 1999 that also lobbies the US government. The mission receives about $150,000 a year from the de facto government.
It is also worth mentioning that Azerbaijan also enhanced its lobbying activities in the US. The former member of the US Republican party Bob Livingston and his Livingston Group informed the US Justice Department in late July that they were in the process of negotiating a contract with Azerbaijan’s government, but have yet to file one under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Also lobbying for Azerbaijan are BGR Public Affairs and Stellar Jay Communications, along with BGR subcontractor Baker Donelson.
