Vance is in Armenia, a country no sitting US president or vice president has visited before

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — Vice President JD Vance landed in Armenia on Monday — a country that no sitting U.S. vice president or president has visited before — as the Trump administration offered economic opportunities while it works to advance a U.S.-brokered deal aimed at ending a decades-long conflict with Azerbaijan.

Vance and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed an agreement to push forward negotiations on a civil nuclear energy deal, and Vance said the U.S. was ready to export advanced computer chips and surveillance drones to Armenia, and invest in the country's infrastructure.

The visit comes after Pashinyan signed a deal at the White House in August with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev where the leaders signed agreements reaffirming their commitment to signing a peace treaty. The text of the treaty was initialed by foreign ministers, which indicates preliminary approval. But the leaders have yet to sign the treaty and parliaments have yet to ratify it.

“Peace is not made by cautious people,” said Vance, who plans to travel to Azerbaijan on Tuesday. “Peace is not made by people who are too focused on the past. Peace is made by people who are focused on the future.”

The August deal between the two former Soviet republics calls for the creation of a major transit corridor dubbed the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity. It is expected to connect Azerbaijan and its autonomous Nakhchivan exclave, which are separated by a 32-kilometer-wide (20-mile-wide) patch of Armenian territory.

The land bridge had been a sticking point in resolving a conflict that lasted for nearly four decades over control of the Karabakh region, known internationally as Nagorno-Karabakh. The region had been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since 1994. A six-week war in 2020 resulted in Azerbaijan regaining control of parts of the region and the surrounding areas. In September 2023, Azerbaijan launched a blitz that forced the separatist authorities to capitulate. After Azerbaijan regained full control of Karabakh, most of its 120,000 Armenian residents fled to Armenia.

Vance said that the Armenian prime minister had his endorsement in upcoming elections and he emphasized that the country was among the oldest to have identified as Christian.

Pashinyan expressed his gratitude toward President Donald Trump and Vance, noting that he had accepted an invitation to participate in the first meeting of Trump's Board of Peace on Feb. 19 in Washington. The group, founded by Trump, is overseeing the ceasefire plan in Gaza.

He said Vance's visit was “of truly historic and symbolic importance” and it “reflects the depth of the strong and strategic partnership forged between the Republic of Armenia and the United States of America.”

The vice president and his wife, Usha, arrived in Yerevan after spending four days in Milan at the Winter Olympics with their family. They were greeted with a red carpet, an honor guard and a delegation of officials. Armenian and American flags hung from poles from as the delegation drove to the vice president’s meeting, with some demonstrators on the side of the road, including one with a sign that said, “Does Trump support Devils?”

Associated Press writers Josh Boak in Washington and Daria Litvinova in Tallinn contributed to this report.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan shake hands, as they attend a joint press conference, in Yerevan, Armenia, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (Kevin Lamarque/Pool Photo via AP)

U.S. Vice President JD Vance holds a copy of 'Joint Statement on the Completion of Negotiations on an Agreement for Peaceful Nuclear Cooperation between the United States of America and the Republic of Armenia', which he and Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed, at the President's Residence in Yerevan, Armenia, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (Kevin Lamarque/Pool Photo via AP)

U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan hold a joint press conference, in Yerevan, Armenia, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (Kevin Lamarque/Pool Photo via AP)

Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan shakes hands with Vice President JD Vance, at the President's Residence, in Yerevan, Armenia, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (Kevin Lamarque/Pool Photo via AP)

Vice President JD Vance participates in a bilateral meeting with Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, not pictured, at the President's Residence, in Yerevan, Armenia, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (Kevin Lamarque/Pool Photo via AP)

An honor guard member salutes as U.S. Vice President JD Vance arrives in Yerevan, Armenia, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (Kevin Lamarque/Pool Photo via AP)

Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, left, welcomes Vice President JD Vance, at the President's Residence, in Yerevan, Armenia, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (Kevin Lamarque/Pool Photo via AP)

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Firefighters entered a charred ferry in Philippine waters on Friday after a fire two nights earlier left five people dead and 84 missing and produced heat and smoke that prevented search and rescue efforts onboard.

Images released by the coast guard around midday showed three smaller boats near the MV June Aster, which appeared to have stopped emitting smoke as personnel walked on the outer portion of the ship.

Coast guard communications officer Joy Dianne Gumatay said Friday they had not received updates from the firefighting team about what was found inside, including whether there were additional fatalities.

The ferry sailed from the capital, Manila, on Wednesday evening and was around 7.4 kilometers (4.5 miles) off the village of Turda near its destination of Coron in Palawan province when the fire was reported.

Rescuers struggled to get inside the burning, smoking vessel Thursday to search for passengers who may been trapped. The efforts were halted overnight.

The cause of the fire has not been determined.

The coast guard and other vessels have rescued 43 people, some plucked from the dark waters as the ferry burned.

“The fire quickly spread. That’s when I dropped to the ground and my back was burned,” survivor Arnulfo Nokki Villanueva said in a video broadcast by News5, adding that he jumped from a window. “I wanted to get a life jacket but failed to get one because people were stepping on me. People were in panic.”

The coast guard, other government agencies, private volunteers and fishermen searched the nearby waters and coastal patrols checked for people who may have drifted to shore but no new survivors or fatalities were found.

According to the manifest, 134 people were onboard, 117 of them passengers and 17 crew. The 53-meter (174-foot) vessel had a capacity to carry 306 passengers and 27 crew.

Two passengers listed in the manifest reported to authorities that they failed to board, bringing the number of missing to 84, the coast guard said.

Two of the survivors were tourists from Chile, according to Rachel Conserman, a staffer of the ship’s owner Atienza Interisland Ferries Inc. They are recovering from injuries in a hospital in Coron, she said, adding that there no other foreigners known to have been on the ship.

The shipping company said in a statement it was assisting those who were on board and their families while coordinating with the coast guard and maritime officials to locate the missing passengers and determine the cause.

Coron is a popular tourist destination known for clear blue waters, limestone cliffs and rock formations.

Ferries are frequently used for transport in the Philippine archipelago. Sea accidents are not uncommon due to storms, badly maintained vessels, overcrowding and spotty enforcement of safety regulations, especially in remote provinces.

People prepare equipment to go out to sea from a pier in Turda, Palawan province, Philippines, Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, days after ferry MV June Aster caught fire. (AP Photo/Harly Clark Cachero)

In this photo provided by the Philippine Coast Guard, aerial survey is being conducted around ferry MV June Aster off Palawan province, western Philippines, Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, days after it caught fire. (Philippine Coast Guard via AP)

This photo provided by the Philippine Coast Guard shows the ferry MV June Aster off Palawan province, western Philippines, Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, days after it caught fire. (Philippine Coast Guard via AP)

In this photo provided by the Philippine Coast Guard, ferry MV June Aster smolders off Palawan province, western Philippines, Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, days after it caught fire. (Philippine Coast Guard via AP)

In this photo provided by the Philippine Coast Guard, ferry MV June Aster smolders off Palawan province, western Philippines, Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, days after it caught fire. (Philippine Coast Guard via AP)