As tensions with longtime ally Russia increased, Armenia said on Wednesday that its forces would conduct military drills with the United States this month.
The exercises that start on Monday, according to the defense ministry of Armenia, are meant to train troops for overseas peacekeeping missions. It did not specify the exercises’ activities or the number of participating troops.
In regards to the exercise, the news undoubtedly causes concern, particularly given the current situation, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
In addition to hosting a Russian military base and joining the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organization alliance, landlocked Armenia has strong military ties with Russia. Since the 2020 war with Azerbaijan, Armenia has grown increasingly pessimistic about Russia.
A Russian peacekeeping force was mandated by the armistice that ended the war to ensure travel on the route from Armenia to the ethnic Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan.
However, that road, known as the Lachin Corridor, has been closed by Azerbaijan since late December, and Armenia has repeatedly complained that Russian peacekeepers are doing nothing to open it. In Nagorno-Karabakh, there are severe food shortages as a result of the blocked road.
This year, Armenia refused to allow CSTO exercises to take place on its soil, and it also declined to send troops to the current bloc exercises taking place in Belarus.
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