Is one of Russia's oldest allies slipping from the Kremlin's orbit? | CNN
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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 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

      • holycrap@lemm.ee
        0·
        1 year ago

        Don’t be so hard on Ukraine. they’re addressing their nazi problem one dead Russian at a time.

        • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmy.ml
          01·
          1 year ago

          According to Mediazona, a media outlet founded by US-funded Russian opposition figures, Russian losses are dropping, nearing almost their lowest since the special military operation began. In their own graph, they show how Russian losses were highest during the fighting over Bakhmut. They were also high during the initial phase of the SMO.

          That Russian losses are significantly lower now even according to pro-NATO sources at a time when even the Western media admits to catastrophic losses by Ukraine, tells of the lopsided nature of the Ukrainian offensive in Russia’s favor.