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WPS Agency, Russia
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
October 24, 2008 Friday
LANCER AND MEDVEDEV
by Gennadi Petrov
PRESIDENTS OF RUSSIA AND ARMENIA WILL DISCUSS THE SITUATION IN THE
CAUCASUS FOMENTED BY THE RUSSIAN-GEORGIAN CONFLICT; President Medvedev
is on a visit to Armenia to restore relations with this Russian ally.
President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev is visiting Yerevan in an effort
to restore relations with the ally in the Caucasus somewhat marred by
the Russian-Georgian war.
Medvedev will open Square of Russia in the center of the capital of
Armenia and discuss economic cooperation with his counterpart Serj
Sarkisjan. Press service of the latter meanwhile reports that the
negotiations will be mostly centered on the situation in the
Caucasus. Recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia pushed the
Nagorno-Karabakh into the foreground.
The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is recognized by Armenia alone so that
parallels with Abkhazia and South Ossetia are clearly visible. Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov announced on September 18 that Russia was not
going to recognize sovereignty Nagorno-Karabakh. This statement was
made right after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's return from Baku,
Azerbaijan. Armenia responded in kind. Sarkisjan visited Tbilisi on
September 30 and said Armenia had respect for "territorial integrity
of Georgia".
Medvedev's visit to Yerevan is taking place against the background of
command post Armenian-NATO exercise Cooperative Lancer'2008 and the
visit of Robert Simmons of the US Administration.
"Seventy percent of traffic to Armenia come via Georgia, so that the
Armenian cannot afford to antagonize this country," Aleksei Malashenko
of the Moscow Carnegie Center said. "Hence their reserved reaction to
the Russian-Georgian war." Neither can Russia afford to lose this ally
in the Caucasus because Armenia is the only country of the region
where Russia has a military base.
Russian army in Armenia
The 102nd Military Base in the city of Gyumri was established in 1995
on the basis of formations of the Caucasus Military District abolished
after disintegration of the USSR. The 102nd Military Base takes orders
from HQ of the Russian Army Group in the Caucasus of the Caucasus
Military District. Numerical strength amounts to 5,000 men wielding
MIG-29 fighters and S-300 antiaircraft complexes (the latter being
elements of the CIS United Antiaircraft Defense System). No
information is available on whether or not personnel or assets of the
102nd Military Base participated in the hostilities in Georgia.
Source: Trud, October 21, 2008, p. 3
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
October 24, 2008 Friday
LANCER AND MEDVEDEV
by Gennadi Petrov
PRESIDENTS OF RUSSIA AND ARMENIA WILL DISCUSS THE SITUATION IN THE
CAUCASUS FOMENTED BY THE RUSSIAN-GEORGIAN CONFLICT; President Medvedev
is on a visit to Armenia to restore relations with this Russian ally.
President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev is visiting Yerevan in an effort
to restore relations with the ally in the Caucasus somewhat marred by
the Russian-Georgian war.
Medvedev will open Square of Russia in the center of the capital of
Armenia and discuss economic cooperation with his counterpart Serj
Sarkisjan. Press service of the latter meanwhile reports that the
negotiations will be mostly centered on the situation in the
Caucasus. Recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia pushed the
Nagorno-Karabakh into the foreground.
The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is recognized by Armenia alone so that
parallels with Abkhazia and South Ossetia are clearly visible. Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov announced on September 18 that Russia was not
going to recognize sovereignty Nagorno-Karabakh. This statement was
made right after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's return from Baku,
Azerbaijan. Armenia responded in kind. Sarkisjan visited Tbilisi on
September 30 and said Armenia had respect for "territorial integrity
of Georgia".
Medvedev's visit to Yerevan is taking place against the background of
command post Armenian-NATO exercise Cooperative Lancer'2008 and the
visit of Robert Simmons of the US Administration.
"Seventy percent of traffic to Armenia come via Georgia, so that the
Armenian cannot afford to antagonize this country," Aleksei Malashenko
of the Moscow Carnegie Center said. "Hence their reserved reaction to
the Russian-Georgian war." Neither can Russia afford to lose this ally
in the Caucasus because Armenia is the only country of the region
where Russia has a military base.
Russian army in Armenia
The 102nd Military Base in the city of Gyumri was established in 1995
on the basis of formations of the Caucasus Military District abolished
after disintegration of the USSR. The 102nd Military Base takes orders
from HQ of the Russian Army Group in the Caucasus of the Caucasus
Military District. Numerical strength amounts to 5,000 men wielding
MIG-29 fighters and S-300 antiaircraft complexes (the latter being
elements of the CIS United Antiaircraft Defense System). No
information is available on whether or not personnel or assets of the
102nd Military Base participated in the hostilities in Georgia.
Source: Trud, October 21, 2008, p. 3