Armenia will take part in NATO military exercises

The Armenian authorities continue to distance themselves from the Kremlin and the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a pro-Russian military bloc composed of loyal former Soviet republics.

Armenia’s armed forces will take part in NATO military exercises starting in the coming weeks, Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said.

17,000 soldiers will take part in the Defender-23 exercises, which will start on April 22 in 10 European countries. pieces of equipment, 9 thousand. US soldiers and another 17,000. soldiers from allied and partner countries.

Among them, according to Singh, are a number of non-NATO countries: in addition to Armenia, these include Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo forces.

“These annual exercises, which will last nearly two months, will focus on the strategic deployment of US-based forces, the use of military assets, and cooperation with European allies and partners,” a Pentagon spokeswoman said.

According to her, the purpose of the maneuvers will be to demonstrate the ability of the US military to quickly deploy combat-ready forces and equipment, “deter those who threaten peace in Europe and protect the continent from aggression.”

Armenia, which two years ago refused to participate in NATO exercises, changed its position this time due to the cooling of relations with the Kremlin and the CSTO, which did not support Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in the conflict with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh.

In January Armenia announced that it would not hold CSTO exercises on its territory, and two months later resigned from the post of deputy secretary general of the organization.

At the CSTO summit in November, Pashinyan told Russian President Vladimir Putin about the organization’s “fiasco” and then refused to sign the final declaration of the event.