JD Vance to Lead U.S. Delegation at 2026 Winter Olympics, Follow-Up Visits Set for Armenia and Azerbaijan

Vice President JD Vance will travel overseas this week to head the United States delegation at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina and subsequently visit Armenia and Azerbaijan to reinforce a White House–brokered peace agreement reached last year.

The seven-day itinerary combines international sports diplomacy with follow-up discussions on a regional accord that Washington views as a strategic counterweight to Russia’s waning influence in the South Caucasus. White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles has said the administration is limiting most senior travel in 2026 to domestic stops ahead of the November midterm elections, making this journey one of the vice president’s few planned trips abroad.

Olympic Opening Duties

Vance is scheduled to arrive in Italy on Thursday, one day before the official opening ceremony. His first public engagement will be the U.S. women’s hockey preliminary match against Czechia, after which he will prepare for the formal launch of the Games on Friday.

The vice president will preside over a delegation that includes:

• Second Lady Usha Vance
• Secretary of State Marco Rubio
• U.S. Ambassador to Italy Tilman Fertitta
• Former Olympic champions Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson, Monique Lamoureux-Morando, Apolo Ohno and Evan Lysacek

By heading the group, Vance joins a short list of vice presidents who have represented the United States at recent Winter Games. Joe Biden attended Vancouver in 2010, and Mike Pence traveled to PyeongChang in 2018. No senior U.S. officials were sent to the 2022 Beijing Games, as the administration at the time staged a diplomatic boycott over human-rights concerns.

According to the International Olympic Committee, the Milan-Cortina Games will host athletes in 16 disciplines across eight sports, making Italy a two-time Winter Games host after 2006 in Turin.

Post-Olympic Stops in the South Caucasus

Following the ceremony and related meetings in Italy, Vance will fly to Yerevan and later to Baku to build on a peace deal signed in 2025 between Armenia and Azerbaijan. President Donald Trump tasked the vice president with monitoring implementation of the accord, which seeks to end four decades of violent disputes between the two former Soviet republics.

The agreement calls for:

• Reopening key transportation routes between the two countries
• Enhanced cooperation with the United States in sectors such as energy, technology and economic development
• Creation of a transit corridor, unofficially labeled the “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity,” to connect Azerbaijan with its Nakhchivan exclave across a 20-mile (32-kilometer) segment of Armenian territory

During his stops, Vance is expected to meet with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to assess progress on infrastructure plans and security arrangements outlined in the pact. No additional agreements are slated to be signed on this trip, but officials say the vice president will “underscore U.S. commitment” to keeping the framework on schedule.

Previous Diplomatic Assignments

The South Caucasus mission mirrors an assignment Vance undertook in October, when he traveled to Israel soon after a cease-fire ended fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas in Gaza. That visit focused on guaranteeing adherence to the cease-fire terms and reaffirming U.S. support for reconstruction efforts.

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Since taking office in January 2025, the vice president has made foreign stops in France, Germany, Greenland, India and the United Kingdom. He has also visited Italy twice, meeting Pope Francis shortly before the pontiff’s death and later holding talks with Francis’s successor, Pope Leo XIV.

Vice Presidential Role in Foreign Travel

Presidents often reserve overseas travel for engagements with long-standing allies or participation in major summits, leaving vice presidents to cover regions or events considered lower on the commander-in-chief’s agenda. Marc Short, who served as chief of staff to former Vice President Mike Pence, noted that the distribution of travel responsibilities “largely reflects presidential priorities and time constraints.”

Past examples include Biden’s 2011 visit to Mongolia, where he observed traditional archery, and Pence’s 2017 swing through Estonia, Georgia and Montenegro to emphasize U.S. backing for NATO. Pence subsequently led the U.S. delegation to Singapore’s East Asia Summit in 2018, which featured an informal discussion with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Short recalled that vice presidents can also be dispatched on short notice, citing Pence’s 2019 trip to Poland substituting for Trump during Hurricane Dorian. On that occasion, Pence met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss security assistance.

Domestic Focus Ahead of Midterms

White House staff maintain that the administration’s attention remains primarily on economic and legislative priorities at home as the midterm campaign season intensifies. Nevertheless, officials argue that maintaining a visible U.S. presence at both the Olympics and in the South Caucasus serves critical diplomatic objectives.

National Security Council aides familiar with the planning say Vance’s upcoming travel will be the last major overseas assignment confirmed for the vice president before the election. Additional trips could be added only if urgent developments require senior-level representation, they said.

Crédito da imagem: Associated Press