Tweet
ARMENIAN DEFENSE MINISTER VISITS U.S. AMID GROWING TIES
by Joshua Kucera
EurasiaNet.org
March 27 2012
NY
Armenia's defense minister Seyran Ohanian has wrapped up a three-day
visit to the U.S., as military relations between the U.S. and Armenia
quietly strengthen. Ohanian's visit was his first to the U.S. since
he became defense minister in 2008, according to Armenian Reporter,
which reported that he met with his counterpart Leon Panetta and CIA
director David Petraeus, among other officials.
Last month, the two countries agreed to carry out their first-ever
joint military exercises in April. And Wikileaked U.S. diplomatic
cables show that Ohanian is someone the U.S. likes working with,
Armenian Reporter notes:
Although this was Ohanyan's first visit to U.S. since his appointment
as defense minister in 2008, Ohanyan is known to have a good rapport
with Americans, meeting Petraeus and other senior U.S. officials during
visits with Armenian peacekeeping units in Iraq and Afghanistan and
to NATO headquarters in Brussels.
"The better we get to know Minister Ohanian, the more we like him as a
partner in political-military efforts," U.S. Charge in Armenia Joseph
Pennington wrote in a 2009 cable made available by Wikileaks. "He
seems a straightforward interlocutor, who is respected in the Armenian
government and within the Defense Ministry. His credibility as a
soldier is very high, given his long experience commanding NKSDF
[Nagorno Karabakh Self Defense Forces] troops."
"We are pleased to find General Ohanian interested and committed on
Armenia's NATO-related defense reform efforts and Euro-Atlantic ties,"
Pennington wrote.
Of course, Russia is still going to be Armenia's main big power
patron -- Armenia is going to the site of this year's Collective
Security Treaty Organization exercises. And for the U.S. Armenia
will remain the lowest priority in the south Caucasus, behind Georgia
and Azerbaijan. But Armenia appears to be moving in a somewhat more
multivectoral direction. Emil Danielyan wrote in Jamestown last month:
Armenia plans to hold first-ever joint military exercises with
the United States just months after agreeing to a more ambitious
cooperation framework with NATO. Highlighting its "complementary"
foreign and security policy, Yerevan at the same time seems intent on
deepening its already close military ties with Russia through a new
defense treaty to be negotiated soon. Remarkably, there have been no
indications yet that Moscow is annoyed by this increasingly delicate
balancing act.
Makes you curious what sort of conversations Yerevan is having with
Moscow about all this....
by Joshua Kucera
EurasiaNet.org
March 27 2012
NY
Armenia's defense minister Seyran Ohanian has wrapped up a three-day
visit to the U.S., as military relations between the U.S. and Armenia
quietly strengthen. Ohanian's visit was his first to the U.S. since
he became defense minister in 2008, according to Armenian Reporter,
which reported that he met with his counterpart Leon Panetta and CIA
director David Petraeus, among other officials.
Last month, the two countries agreed to carry out their first-ever
joint military exercises in April. And Wikileaked U.S. diplomatic
cables show that Ohanian is someone the U.S. likes working with,
Armenian Reporter notes:
Although this was Ohanyan's first visit to U.S. since his appointment
as defense minister in 2008, Ohanyan is known to have a good rapport
with Americans, meeting Petraeus and other senior U.S. officials during
visits with Armenian peacekeeping units in Iraq and Afghanistan and
to NATO headquarters in Brussels.
"The better we get to know Minister Ohanian, the more we like him as a
partner in political-military efforts," U.S. Charge in Armenia Joseph
Pennington wrote in a 2009 cable made available by Wikileaks. "He
seems a straightforward interlocutor, who is respected in the Armenian
government and within the Defense Ministry. His credibility as a
soldier is very high, given his long experience commanding NKSDF
[Nagorno Karabakh Self Defense Forces] troops."
"We are pleased to find General Ohanian interested and committed on
Armenia's NATO-related defense reform efforts and Euro-Atlantic ties,"
Pennington wrote.
Of course, Russia is still going to be Armenia's main big power
patron -- Armenia is going to the site of this year's Collective
Security Treaty Organization exercises. And for the U.S. Armenia
will remain the lowest priority in the south Caucasus, behind Georgia
and Azerbaijan. But Armenia appears to be moving in a somewhat more
multivectoral direction. Emil Danielyan wrote in Jamestown last month:
Armenia plans to hold first-ever joint military exercises with
the United States just months after agreeing to a more ambitious
cooperation framework with NATO. Highlighting its "complementary"
foreign and security policy, Yerevan at the same time seems intent on
deepening its already close military ties with Russia through a new
defense treaty to be negotiated soon. Remarkably, there have been no
indications yet that Moscow is annoyed by this increasingly delicate
balancing act.
Makes you curious what sort of conversations Yerevan is having with
Moscow about all this....