The US has been interfering in Armenia's internal affairs ever since it got independent and will doubtless continue to do so. They don't want Russia getting to control Azerbaijan's oil, so having a much more heavily armed neighbour ruled by an American-owned bunch of biddable corrupt thugs makes perfect geopolitical sense. (As well as having Azerbaijan run by a mirror-image mafia too, of course). And if the mass of Armenians aren't actually very enthusiastic about the prospect of having their country turned into the Israel of the Caucasus, tough.

The US's response will probably be to offer Sarkissian a loan deal to stock up on armoured cars and police helicopters.