The U.S. will hold military exercises with Armenia this month in a widely unexpected move that has prompted Russia—a long-time backer of Armenia and fellow member of the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO)—to express its "concern."
The "Eagle Partner 2023" drill, while expected to be only a small exercise, appears to be the latest step in a long-term process of Armenian moving away from Moscow's influence because of the Kremlin's inability to resolve the ongoing Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.
The Armenian Defense Ministry said in a statement that the September 11-20 Eagle Partner 2023 exercise is designed to prepare its forces for participation in international peacekeeping missions. The focus, it said, will be "stabilization operations between conflicting parties during peacekeeping tasks."
A U.S. military spokesperson told Reuters that 85 American soldiers and 175 Armenians would be involved in the drill. The U.S. troops taking part are members of the Kansas National Guard, which has been training with Armenian forces for 20 years. The spokesperson also said no heavy weaponry will be involved in the drill.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the news "causes concern, especially in the current situation. Therefore, we will deeply analyze this news and monitor the situation."
Russia has traditionally held sway in the South Caucasus region, where the Soviet Union's borders once encompassed the now independent states of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Moscow still has a military base in Armenia, and the country is part of the Kremlin-led CSTO military alliance.
But Moscow-Armenia relations have been deteriorating because of the ongoing Armenia-Azerbaijan dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh, which is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but whose 120,000 people are mostly ethnic Armenians. It is governed by the self-declared Republic of Artsakh.
The most recent clash over the territory concluded with an Azerbaijani victory in 2020, and Russian peacekeepers were then deployed to uphold the agreement that ended the fighting. It was the second large-scale conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh since the two nations became independent in the 1990s.
But Moscow's forces have proved unable to prevent resurgent tensions and keep open a key road—known as the Lachin Corridor—linking Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijani forces blocked the road last December despite the presence of Russian troops. The route remains closed, leading to significant food shortages in the enclave.
The tensions over the corridor reportedly prompted the removal this week of the head of Russia's peacekeeping force, Colonel General Alexander Lentsov. He is the second commander to have been removed in 2023, having replaced his predecessor, Major General Andrei Volkov, in April.
Newsweek has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry by email to request comment.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said this past weekend it had been a mistake for his country to become so dependent on Russian protection. "Armenia's security architecture was 99.999 percent linked to Russia, including when it came to the procurement of arms and ammunition," Pashinyan told Italian newspaper La Repubblica.
"But today we see that Russia itself is in need of weapons, arms and ammunition [for the Ukraine war] and in this situation it's understandable that even if it wishes so, the Russian Federation cannot meet Armenia's security needs," he continued. "This example should demonstrate to us that dependence on just one partner in security matters is a strategic mistake."
The Kremlin hit back, with Peskov telling reporters that Russia "is an absolutely integral part of this region" and "plays a consistent, very important role in stabilizing the situation in this region…and we will continue to play this role."
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Pashinyan's comments were "public rhetoric verging on rudeness."
Last week, Secretary of State Antony Blinken noted "the United States' concern over the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh" in a call to Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev.
"He reiterated our call to reopen the Lachin Corridor to humanitarian, commercial, and passenger traffic, while recognizing the importance of additional routes from Azerbaijan," a State Department readout said.
Pashinyan's measures undermining ties with Russia have gone beyond the rhetorical. Last year, Armenia refused to allow scheduled CSTO exercises on its territory and then said it would not send troops to take part in alliance drills in Belarus.
Also last year, Pashinyan humiliated Russian President Vladimir Putin and other CSTO leaders by refusing to sign a joint alliance declaration at the conclusion of a summit in Yerevan, Armenia's capital. The prime minister said the document did not offer a "clear political assessment" condemning Azerbaijani incursions into Armenian territory.
Recent weapons purchases from France further indicate Yerevan's nascent Western pivot. Armenia has traditionally relied on Russia almost exclusively for its military acquisitions. But its defeat by Azerbaijan's technologically superior force in 2020 pointed to the country's need to update its arsenals.
Another notable signal of Pashinyan's intentions came in the form of Armenia's proposal to ratify the Rome Statute, the foundational document of the International Criminal Court. The court issued an arrest warrant for Putin earlier this year in connection with charges of forced mass deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia.
The Russian Foreign Ministry criticized the plan as "absolutely unacceptable" and warned of "extremely negative" consequences for bilateral relations.
In a further apparent rebuke of Russian conduct in Ukraine, Pashinyan's wife—Anna Hakobyan—will reportedly attend an aid summit in Kyiv being organized by Olena Zelenska, the wife of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
https://www.newsweek.com/russia-voices-concern-ally-joint-military-drills-us-armenia-csto-azerbaijan-1825002