Armenian president admits 'strategic mistake' in trusting Russia as country moves towards the West
Armenian president admits 'strategic mistake' in trusting Russia as country moves towards the West
The arrival of US soldiers for a peacekeeper training exercise in Armenia has rankled the Russian government, which has for decades acted as the sole security guarantor for the former Soviet republic. The 10-day “Eagle Partner” exercise, which began Monday, involves 85 US and 175 Armenian soldiers a...
The arrival of US soldiers for a peacekeeper training exercise in Armenia has rankled the Russian government, which has for decades acted as the sole security guarantor for the former Soviet republic. The 10-day “Eagle Partner” exercise, which began Monday, involves 85 US and 175 Armenian soldiers and aims to prepare the Armenians to take part in international peacekeeping missions.
The exercise, while small in scale, is the latest in a series of what Russia’s foreign ministry has deemed “unfriendly actions” taken by its traditional ally.
Armenia recently sent humanitarian aid to Ukraine for the first time, and its parliament is set to ratify the International Criminal Court’s Rome Statute – meaning it would be obliged to arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin if he were to set foot in the country, which Russia has long viewed as its own backyard.
Armenia’s flirtation with new international partners has been spurred by its frustration that Russia has been unable or unwilling to defend it against what it sees as aggression from neighboring Azerbaijan, and has raised questions about Russia’s ability to retain its hold on countries and conflicts across the former Soviet empire.
Armenian President Nikol Pashinyan said his country was beginning to taste the “bitter fruits” of the “strategic mistake” of trusting Russia with near-exclusive responsibility for his country’s defense.
“Armenia’s security architecture 99.999% was linked to Russia,” he told Italian newspaper La Repubblica earlier this month. “But today we see that Russia itself is in need of weapons… Even if it wishes so, the Russian Federation cannot meet Armenia’s needs.”
Edit: As Furball commented, Pashinyan is the Prime Minister of Armenia
Permanently Deleted
I thought the us did acknowledge it recently?
Why would we let Armenia into NATO? Our sympathies are with Azerbaijan, nor with Armenia.
We never really gave a fuck about Azerbaijan except as a thorn in Russia's side.
But if they, along with Turkey, can stop being dicks to Armenia, then they can ask him forces, take back Georgia and then Turkey can rule the Caucasus and extract all the wealth from that region in the name of Western capital.
Hopefully this time they don't do another Iraq. Out of the place.
Small correction, pashinyan is the prime minister, not the president
Thanks for the correction. I updated the description.
Russia is “what?? You don’t want to be defenseless if we invade you?! Hmmmph”
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The arrival of US soldiers for a peacekeeper training exercise in Armenia has rankled the Russian government, which has for decades acted as the sole security guarantor for the former Soviet republic.
Since Pashinyan came to power in 2018 on the back of Armenia’s “Velvet Revolution” – an outpouring of anger against lingering corruption and cronyism in the former Soviet republic – his country has faced growing tensions with Azerbaijan.
Dumoulin also pointed to the growing ties between Moscow and Baku – spurred by the personal relationship between Putin and Azerbaijan’s longtime President Ilham Aliyev – which may have come at Yerevan’s expense.
It’s some 260 people armed with rifles – not heavy weaponry – gathering in Armenia for nine to 10 days, to improve what they call ‘the interoperability of peacekeeping forces,’” said Ter-Matevosyan, pointing to the routine nature of such exercises around the world.
The Kremlin banned dairy imports from Armenia in April – ostensibly after some newly discovered health concerns, but in what Ohanyan suggested was a punishment for Yerevan considering the ICC ratification.
For Ter-Matevosyan, the current Armenian government, whose “ideological roots come from… liberal Western values,” have taken this “opportune moment” to implement “some of their ideas, thoughts and beliefs that they cherished for many years.”
The original article contains 1,582 words, the summary contains 211 words. Saved 87%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
Good bot
Permanently Deleted
FFS keep the CIA out of other countries. They've caused chaos and terrorism everywhere they've gone.
Turns out that when you ally yourself with the West, Russia doesn't see a reason to provide you with as much support as when you align with Russian interests. No way!
You have it the other way around. Russian support dried up so Armenia is courting the West.
Armenian's been courting the West ever since Pashinyan took power. His entire campaign was basically courting the West.
Don't pull your revisionist history bullshit on me. Pashinyan led his country down this path and is now paying the price.
"US soldiers for a peacekeeper training exercise "
Lol, US soldiers for a peacekeeping exercise. ROFL even.
You mean, Pashinyan flirting with the West led to Russia decreasing support for Armenia? No way!
Pashinyan is in a situation of his own making.
Russia saved Armenia back in 2020.
In 2020 Azerbaijan defeated Armenia in the battlefield. Armenian armies melted away, and Armenia had no answer to Ajerbaijan's Turkish Bayraktar drones. Khankendi was cut off from mainland Armenia and Azerbaijan was preparing to take it.
Russia stepped in and told both countries to put a stop to the fighting. The resulting deal was very generous to Armenia given their hopeless military situation. Azerbaijan only accepted it because they were afraid of Russia.
Well, that's to be expected if that was the deal from the beginning. However, Azerbaijan shouldn't have defeated Armenia in the battlefield, Russia should have been there from the start to help them, not after the battle.
The resulting deal was very generous to Armenia given their hopeless military situation.
It was hopeless BECAUSE they decided to rely too much on Russia, that was the point of their agreement.
Azerbaijan has more than 3 times the number people Armenia has. In addition Azeris have oil/gas and a strong ally in Turkey. Armenia's hopelss militaty situation is a given. They can't win any fight. The only thing they have going is Russia's support. Without Russian support Armenia is in a very bad spot.
In fact the only reason the 2020 war happened is that Azeris correctly predicted that Russian support for Armenia is not what it used to be, given Pashinyan's desire to flirt with the West.