James O’Brien, who heads the U.S. Office of Sanctions Coordination, arrived in Armenia today and will meet with Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan and other government officials to discuss how the two countries can better cooperate to ensure the implementation of U.S. sanctions on third-party nations.

While the U.S. Embassy in Armenia doesn’t provide specifics regarding O’Brien’s visit, it’s assumed he will broach the issue of U.S. sanctions on Russia and Armenia’s commitment to ensure such restrictions.

Russian-Armenian trade climbed sharply last year, with Armenian exports to Russia nearly tripling to $2.4 billion. Goods manufactured in third countries and re-exported from Armenia to Russia are believed to have accounted for most of that gain.

Sanctions circumvention remains a “substantial problem,” O’Brien told POLITICO in June, adding he was discussing the issue with countries including Turkey, Kazakhstan, Georgia, the United Arab Emirates and Armenia.

The U.S. Treasury Department, last September, designated Taco LLC (Taco), a company registered in Armenia, as a third-country supplier for Radioavtomatika, a major Russian defense procurement firm that specializes in procuring foreign items for Russia’s defense industry.

Photo: U.S. Embassy in Serbia