The United States has made a concerted effort to help Armenia and other NIS during their difficult transition from authoritarianism and a command economy to democracy and open markets.

][citation needed] On 27 March 2006, Armenia signed a Millennium Challenge Compact with the United States; the agreement entered into force on 29 September 2006.

In 2013, the United States and Armenia held their first-ever joint military drills, during which Armenian soldiers were trained for their current multi-national peacekeeping operations.

The two sides announced that they would deepen ties in the coming year, which will be formalized by signing a deal to upgrade the status of bilateral dialogue to a "Strategic Partnership Commission".

U.S. economic assistance programs, primarily under the administration of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), have three objectives: to promote sustainable private sector economic growth, to strengthen non-executive governmental systems and civil society to build a more robust democracy, and to ensure a smooth transition towards primary healthcare and the rationalization of social support systems of the government.

Other agencies, including the Departments of State, Agriculture, Treasury, Defense, Commerce, Energy, Justice, and the Peace Corps sponsor various assistance projects.

The United States-Armenia Task Force, established in 2000, is a bilateral commission that meets every 6 months to review the progress and objectives of U.S. assistance to Armenia.

USDA's priority assistance areas are farm credit, food safety and animal health, support to the Armenian private sector through the NGO CARD.

Since then, the US has supported Armenia in many of its endeavours such as encouraging a peaceful resolution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, reopening the closed borders with Azerbaijan and Turkey, and promoting regional prosperity.

In May 2016, the commander of the U.S. Army Europe, Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, discussed Armenia's growing military ties with the United States during a meeting with former defence minister Seyran Ohanyan.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Laura Cooper also praised the 15 year long partnership between the Armenian military and the Kansas Army National Guard.

[16] Colonel Martin O'Donnell, spokesman for the U.S. command, said the exercises are "a vital opportunity for our soldiers from our two nations to build new relationships at the tactical level and to increase interoperability for peacekeeping operations."

[18] Before Armenia regained its independence, the United States was one of 74 countries that responded by sending aid to the Armenians who had lost their homes and were living in temporary shelters.

Humanitarian aid originally accounted for up to 85% of this total, reflecting the economic paralysis caused by closed borders with Turkey and Azerbaijan related to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, destruction in northern Armenia left from the devastating 1988 earthquake and the closure of most of the country's factories.

As conditions in Armenia have improved with the stabilization of the economy and increased energy production—including the restarting of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant near the capital, U.S. assistance programs have progressed from humanitarian priorities to longer-term development goals.

State Department and USAID educational exchange programs claim to play an important role in supporting democratic and free-market reforms.

One Western diplomat familiar with the incident said the United States had multiple streams of intelligence connecting the Armenian arms shipments to Iran with the deaths of U.S. soldiers in 2007 in Iraq.

When Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice confronted President Sargsyan with this intelligence in 2008 on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, he denied knowing anything about the matter.

[25] In a letter to Sargsyan, Secretary Rice wrote: "Such cooperation with Iran, a known state sponsor of terrorism and supplier of arms to terrorist groups and other non-state actors, is unacceptable," instructing U.S. diplomats to pressure the Government of Armenia to take responsibility for the transfer and threaten it with sanctions.

[26] Expressing the frustration of the United States government, Negroponte wrote to Sargsyan, "Notwithstanding the close relationship between our countries, neither the Administration nor the U.S. Congress can overlook this case...

[21] According to Der Spiegel, due to the arms transfer to Iran, Sargsyan bore partial responsibility for killing or wounding American soldiers.

The lot and serial numbers matched and handwritten on both launchers was the Arabic message "Rejoice – Islamic Resistance of Iraq – Hizballah Brigades".

On 29 October 2019, the United States House of Representatives voted 405–11 in favor of recognition, and the Senate followed on 12 December 2019, passing an identical resolution unanimously.