United States: The US military has announced that its soldiers will complete a joint military exercise with Armenian forces in Armenia as planned, and the exercise was not affected by the launch of a major military operation by neighbouring Azerbaijan.
According to a US military spokesperson, there had been no change to the 10-day Eagle Partner 2023 exercise involving 85 US soldiers and 175 Armenians, despite Azerbaijan’s launch of an “antiterrorist” operation in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
“We were aware that they were conducting operations, but we didn’t assess there to be any risk to our soldiers at the time, so they remained for the duration of the exercise,” the spokesperson stated.
The drills that began on September 11 were designed to prepare the Armenians to take part in international peacekeeping missions. It took place at two training grounds near the capital, Yerevan.
The Armenian Ministry of Defence commented that “the purpose of the exercise is to increase the level of interoperability of the unit participating in international peacekeeping missions within the framework of peacekeeping operations and to exchange best practices in control and tactical communication.”
Earlier this year, Armenia refused to host military drills by the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), a Russian-led alliance of post-Soviet countries, amid Yerevan’s growing tensions with Moscow. In June, Prime Minister Mr. Nikol Pashinyan stated with an Italian newspaper that Russia had failed to protect Armenia against what he called continuing aggression from oil-rich Azerbaijan. The PM noted that Russia’s war in Ukraine meant it was unable to meet Armenia’s security needs.
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