Russia expressed concern on Wednesday about plans for a US-Armenian military exercise in Armenia next week, saying it would be watching closely.

The Armenian defense ministry said the purpose of the Sept. 11-20 "Eagle Partner 2023" exercise was to prepare its forces to take part in international peacekeeping missions.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters the exercise required alertness on Russia's part, and Moscow would be monitoring it.

A US military spokesperson said 85 US soldiers and 175 Armenians would take part. He said the Americans – including members of the Kansas National Guard which has a 20-year-old training partnership with Armenia – would be armed with rifles and would not be using heavy weaponry.

The Kremlin also said on Wednesday that the Wagner Group did not exist from a legal point of view, after being asked to comment on a British decision to designate the group as a terrorist organization.

Britain's interior minister described Wagner as "violent and destructive" and said it acted as a "military tool of Vladimir Putin's Russia overseas.”

The UK Parliament’s influential Foreign Affairs Committee recommended in July that Wagner be outlawed. The committee said British authorities had “underplayed and underestimated” the threat posed by the mercenary group.

The committee said Wagner’s future was uncertain after Yevgeny Prigozhin’s short-lived armed mutiny against Russia’s top military leaders in June. The lawmakers said Britain should take advantage of the confused situation to “disrupt” Wagner.

https://english.aawsat.com/world/4529981-russia-concerned-about-us-military-exercise-armenia