conflicts
Armenia wants to hold military maneuvers with the US
The two former Soviet countries of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been fighting over the Nagorno-Karabakh region for decades. photo
© Sergei Grits/AP/dpa
A maneuver in the South Caucasus is creating new tensions in the post-Soviet space. Ironically, Armenia, Russia’s longtime protégé in the region, has invited the US to a joint exercise.
The “Eagle Partner 2023” maneuvers, which will last from September 11 to 20, will include operations to stabilize conflicts in the performance of peacekeeping missions, the Armenian Defense Ministry said, according to the state news agency Armenpress.
According to media information, 85 US soldiers and 175 Armenians in uniform will take part in the exercise. The goal is the exchange of experience at the tactical level in joint international peacekeeping missions, Yerevan said. The maneuver is quite explosive. After all, Russia is considered Armenia’s protecting power in the region and also maintains a military base in the country with around 3,500 men.
The Kremlin is upset
Relations between Moscow and Washington have been strained, especially since Russia launched a war of aggression against US-backed Ukraine. Anger was therefore expressed in Moscow. “Such news causes concern, especially in the current situation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov commented on the upcoming military exercise, according to the Interfax news agency. Russia will follow further developments very closely.
The Russian nationalist military blog Rybar criticized the decision given that Yerevan canceled a planned maneuver by the Russian-dominated military bloc, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), earlier this year. The current exercise is just “another line that complements the picture of an about-face in Armenia towards the West with its anti-Armenian government,” Rybar judged.
However, there are reasons for Yerevan’s dissatisfaction with Moscow: In the conflict between Armenia and its neighbor Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, the Armenians perceive Russia as far too passive.
Tensions continue to rise
The two former Soviet countries of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been fighting for decades over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which is on Azerbaijani territory but is inhabited mostly by Armenians. Despite an armistice monitored by Russian troops, fighting continues to break out. Azerbaijanis have also been blocking the Lachin Corridor, which is Armenia’s only access to Nagorno-Karabakh, for months.
Observers describe the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh as catastrophic. There is a lack of food and medicine, for example. Since Wednesday, bread has only been handed out against ration coupons.
And tensions continue to mount. Political observers do not rule out the possibility of another war in the near future. While Azerbaijan, already heavily armed with its oil revenues, can rely on the help of its ally Turkey, the Armenian leadership sees itself largely abandoned by Russia.
Although Peskov recently ruled out a withdrawal of Russian troops from the South Caucasus, in view of Moscow’s own war against Ukraine, Moscow’s resources – and interest – in providing effective support to Armenia are considered insufficient.