What Was CIA Director William Burns Doing in Armenia?

Armenia is another battleground of the new cold war
In July 2022, CIA Director William Burns made a surprise visit to Yerevan in Armenia. He was there officially to support his Agency’s financing of “non-profit organizations” whose stated purpose is to “spread democratic values.”

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) at the time announced provision of grants totaling more than $100 million for NGOs in Armenia.[1]

In 2021, the National Endowment for Democracy, a CIA cutout that specializes in fomenting regime change and propaganda, provided grants totaling $2,702,445 to Armenian organizations.

Armenia has emerged as a key battleground in the new Cold War, with the U.S. working to pry it away from the Russian orbit.

A March 2024 RAND Corporation report suggested that the U.S. could provide Armenia with short-range air defense technologies and counter-drone systems and that the Pentagon could in