Vance leads U.S. delegation to Winter Olympics, then visits Armenia and Azerbaijan

Vice President JD Vance will lead the U.S. delegation at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics and will then travel to Armenia and Azerbaijan to advance a White House-brokered peace agreement.

Vice President JD Vance is travelling to Italy to lead the U.S. delegation at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics and will then visit Armenia and Azerbaijan. The White House has asked him to build on a peace agreement brokered last year between those two countries. The weeklong trip is likely one of only a few foreign trips Vance will make this year as the administration focuses more on domestic travel, the White House has said. He will travel with members of the delegation and several former Olympic athletes. Key details: - Vance will lead the U.S. delegation at the opening ceremony in Milan-Cortina and plans to watch the U.S. women's hockey team in a preliminary game against Czechia. - The delegation includes second lady Usha Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and U.S. Ambassador to Italy Tilman Fertitta, along with former Olympic medalists Jocelyne and Monique Lamoureux-Davidson, Apolo Ohno and Evan Lysacek. - After Italy, Vance will travel to Armenia and Azerbaijan to work on implementing the White House-brokered agreement that aims to reopen key transportation routes and expand cooperation on energy, technology and the economy. - The agreement calls for creation of a transit corridor dubbed the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, expected to connect Azerbaijan with its Nakhchivan exclave across a roughly 32-kilometer strip of Armenian territory. - The trip follows other overseas visits by Vance last year, including a stop in Israel, and previous travel to France, Germany, Greenland, India, the U.K., and two prior visits to Italy. Summary: The trip combines public diplomacy at the Winter Olympics with follow-up diplomacy in the South Caucasus. Vance will attend opening events in Milan-Cortina and then travel to Armenia and Azerbaijan to support efforts to implement the previously brokered agreement. Officials say the visit comes as the administration narrows its international travel for the year.