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
© Sergei Grits/AP/dpa
The maneuvers planned by Armenia and the United States unnerved the Kremlin. Tensions in the Nagorno-Karabakh region continue and Armenia is seeking Western support in resolving the conflict.
Despite the armistice, fighting continued
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. In this context, the Armenian leadership has increasingly expressed dissatisfaction with Russia as a mediator. Yerevan accuses Moscow, which has long been considered the protecting power of the Armenians in the Caucasus, of not doing enough.
Exercise with Russia canceled
At the beginning of the year, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan canceled a military exercise planned in the country by the Russian-dominated CSTO military alliance as futile. The joint maneuvers with the USA are seen as a further sign of Armenia’s turning away from Russia. Instead, the country is trying to involve western states in resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
“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. Relations between Moscow and Washington have been strained, particularly since Russia launched a war of aggression against Ukraine, which is supported by the United States.