Russia Unhappy With Armenia For Hosting Joint US Military Exercises

Russia is not happy with its ally Armenia, which is part of the Moscow-led regional Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). There have been intensifying Armenia-Russia tensions after Moscow's refusal to intervene military on Yerevan's side in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War and follow-up clashes of 2022.

Armenia's defense ministry has announced it will host joint military exercises with the United States next week, dubbed the Eagle Partner 2023 drills, which will run September 11-20.

The defense ministry stated the exercises are for the purpose of training for peacekeeping missions. "Within the framework of preparation for peacekeeping missions, units preparing for international peacekeeping operations frequently participate in similar joint exercises and trainings in partner countries," a statement said.

However, the drills appear small, given the Pentagon has confirmed that a mere 85 American soldiers and 175 Armenians will participate. A statement also said it will not involve heavy weaponry, and will feature members of the Kansas National Guard. 

The Kremlin has said this is cause for "concern", with spokesman Dmitry Peskov issuing the following statement Thursday:

"Of course, such news causes concern, especially in the current situation. Therefore, we will deeply analyze this news and monitor the situation."

Currently there are contingents of Russian peacekeeping forces in the contested border regions between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Since the truce signed on November 10, 2020 - which saw ethnic Armenians booted from historic territory - there have been some 2,000 Russian troops in the region keeping an uneasy peace.

Russia has long had a military base inside Armenia going back to 1991. Thus the tiny caucuses country has long been seen as within Russia's sphere of influence since Soviet times.

On Thursday, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan once again charged that Azerbaijan is mobilizing troops along the border. "Azerbaijan has massed forces along the line of contact with Nagorno-Karabakh and on the border with Armenia over the last few days," he said, adding that "the military-political situation in our region has seriously worsened."

He alleged Azerbaijan is "demonstrating its intention to undertake a fresh military provocation against Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia."