US, Armenian Troops to Hold Exercise Next Week as Tensions in Nagorno-Karabakh Escalate

(Photo: KAREN MINASYAN/AFP via Getty Images) Lorries carrying French humanitarian aid for the Armenian-populated breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region are seen near the entrance to the Lachin corridor, Karabakh's only land link with Armenia, on August 30, 2023. Karabakh has been at the center of a decades-long dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which have fought two wars over the mountainous territory.

Armenia said Wednesday (September 6) it would host a joint military exercise with the US next week.

The Armenian defense ministry said the purpose of the exercise called "Eagle Partner 2023" slated for September 11 to 20 was to prepare its forces to take part in international peacekeeping missions.

Meanwhile, a US military spokesperson was quoted by Reuters, saying 85 US military personnel - including a contingent from the Kansas National Guard, which has a 20-year-old training partnership with Armenia - and 175 Armenian troops would focus more on infantry training than on heavy weaponry like armor and artillery.

Russia Concerned with Joint US-Armenian Exercise

Despite the small scale of the exercise, the Kremlin said it would closely monitor it.

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

Russia has a military base in Armenia and saw itself as the pre-eminent power in the south Caucasus region, which until 1991 was part of the Soviet Union. The Russians also maintain a peacekeeping force in the region to uphold an agreement that ended the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan in 2020, the second they have fought since the Soviet Union collapsed.

Armenian PM: Russia Failed to Protect Us

In an Italian newspaper interview over the weekend, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Russia failed to protect his country against what he called the continuing aggression from Azerbaijan. He also suggested that Russia's war in Ukraine meant it was unable to meet all Armenia's security needs.

On the other hand, Peskov dismissed Pashinyan's remarks, saying Russia was an "absolutely integral part" of the southern Caucasus.

"Russia plays a consistent, very important role in stabilizing the situation in this region...and we will continue to play this role," he added.

According to Al Jazeera, Armenia also refused to host military drills by the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), a Russian-led alliance of post-Soviet countries, reflecting Yerevan's growing tensions with Moscow.

CSTO is Russia's answer to NATO.

The military escalation since the latest war between Armenia and Azerbaijan in 2020 has been causing severe hunger in the ethnic Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh after Azerbaijan closed its border on the Lachin Corridor, the only road connecting the enclave to Armenia, since December 2022.