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ARMENIA: WITH FRIENDS LIKE RUSSIA, WHO NEEDS ENEMIES...
EurasiaNet.org
March 19 2015
March 19, 2015 - 1:36pm, by Giorgi Lomsadze
Armenia considers Russia to be its strategic ally. But it appears
that such feelings of loyalty are not mutual: officials in Yerevan
are far from thrilled to find out that Russia is by far the largest
arms supplier to Azerbaijan, Armenia's neighbor and sworn enemy.
Russia's double-dealing prompted Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan to
grouse at a March 18 media forum in Yerevan. "Armenian soldiers at the
front know that they [Azerbaijani troops] are trying to kill them using
Russian weapons," Sargsyan said, referring to the ongoing struggle
between the two countries over the Nagorno-Karabakh territory. Although
a ceasefire has been in effect for more than two decades, skirmishes
between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces are almost a daily occurrence.
Flush with cash from energy exports, and eager to reverse territorial
loses at the hands of Armenian forces during the 1988-1994 hot phase of
the Karabakh conflict, Azerbaijan has been on an arms procurement binge
in recent years. Russia seems only too happy to serve as Azerbaijan's
chief purveyor of the machinery of death. Azerbaijan obtains 85
percent of its weaponry from Russia, according to a recent report.
Russian arms sales to Baku have long been a source of concern for
Yerevan, which, lacking the same kind of lucrative revenue streams
that its foes possess, has trouble keeping pace in the arms race
with Azerbaijan. At the same time, Armenia's Russia-reliant economy
means that President Sargsyan must choose his words carefully when
he chides the Kremlin.
Before delivering his March 18 criticism of Russian arms sales,
Sargsyan emphasized that no other country has been given "even 1
percent of the support" that Armenia has received from Russia since
the Soviet collapse in 1991.
Russia maintains a military base in Armenia, a geopolitical fact that
limits the chances that Baku would use all its Russian-bought military
hardware to renew the Karabakh war and try to forcibly reclaim its
lost territory.
It is believed that Russia used its considerable economic and political
influence in 2014 to pressure Armenia into joining the Kremlin-led
Eurasian Economic Union, while rejecting an association agreement
with the European Union.
Armenian officials now seem wary of the pitfalls of near-total reliance
on Moscow. Thus, they are probing possibilities for establishing some
sort of political and economic relationship with the EU. Brussels
seems keen to lend Armenia a helping hand and dispatched Expansion
Commissioner Johannes to Hahn to Yerevan for talks. The visiting
commissioner said that Brussels looks forward to formulating a
new agenda with Yerevan that is compatible with "Armenia's other
obligations."
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/72616
From: Baghdasarian
EurasiaNet.org
March 19 2015
March 19, 2015 - 1:36pm, by Giorgi Lomsadze
Armenia considers Russia to be its strategic ally. But it appears
that such feelings of loyalty are not mutual: officials in Yerevan
are far from thrilled to find out that Russia is by far the largest
arms supplier to Azerbaijan, Armenia's neighbor and sworn enemy.
Russia's double-dealing prompted Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan to
grouse at a March 18 media forum in Yerevan. "Armenian soldiers at the
front know that they [Azerbaijani troops] are trying to kill them using
Russian weapons," Sargsyan said, referring to the ongoing struggle
between the two countries over the Nagorno-Karabakh territory. Although
a ceasefire has been in effect for more than two decades, skirmishes
between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces are almost a daily occurrence.
Flush with cash from energy exports, and eager to reverse territorial
loses at the hands of Armenian forces during the 1988-1994 hot phase of
the Karabakh conflict, Azerbaijan has been on an arms procurement binge
in recent years. Russia seems only too happy to serve as Azerbaijan's
chief purveyor of the machinery of death. Azerbaijan obtains 85
percent of its weaponry from Russia, according to a recent report.
Russian arms sales to Baku have long been a source of concern for
Yerevan, which, lacking the same kind of lucrative revenue streams
that its foes possess, has trouble keeping pace in the arms race
with Azerbaijan. At the same time, Armenia's Russia-reliant economy
means that President Sargsyan must choose his words carefully when
he chides the Kremlin.
Before delivering his March 18 criticism of Russian arms sales,
Sargsyan emphasized that no other country has been given "even 1
percent of the support" that Armenia has received from Russia since
the Soviet collapse in 1991.
Russia maintains a military base in Armenia, a geopolitical fact that
limits the chances that Baku would use all its Russian-bought military
hardware to renew the Karabakh war and try to forcibly reclaim its
lost territory.
It is believed that Russia used its considerable economic and political
influence in 2014 to pressure Armenia into joining the Kremlin-led
Eurasian Economic Union, while rejecting an association agreement
with the European Union.
Armenian officials now seem wary of the pitfalls of near-total reliance
on Moscow. Thus, they are probing possibilities for establishing some
sort of political and economic relationship with the EU. Brussels
seems keen to lend Armenia a helping hand and dispatched Expansion
Commissioner Johannes to Hahn to Yerevan for talks. The visiting
commissioner said that Brussels looks forward to formulating a
new agenda with Yerevan that is compatible with "Armenia's other
obligations."
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/72616
From: Baghdasarian