Eagle Partner 2023; Joint Military Exercise Of Armenia And U.S.

The joint military exercise between Armenia and America, called Eagle Partner 2023, kicked off on September 11 near the Armenian capital city of Yerevan.

The purpose of the military exercise is to increase the level of cooperation capabilities of the participating units in international peacekeeping missions and to increase the coordination of Armenian forces with NATO standards.

The Kremlin warned that the military exercise has caused concern for Russia.

Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, said: Of course, such a news story is particularly worrying in the current situation. Therefore, we will deeply analyze this news report and monitor the situation.

Currently, groups of Russian peacekeepers are present in the disputed border areas between Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Since November 30, 2020, when a ceasefire was signed between Armenia and Azerbaijan, about 2,000 Russian forces have been deployed in the region in order to shoulder the responsibility for maintaining peace and tranquility.  

However, the military exercise is being held amid increasing Armenian despair over Russia’s failure to guarantee and secure the establishment of a peace agreement and ceasefire in Karabakh region.

Both the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia are dissatisfied with the performance of Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh region, and it is feared that this trend will ultimately lead to foreigners entering the Caucasus region.

With the rekindling of tensions with Baku, Armenians have expressed disappointment at Russia’s lack of military and political support.

Furthermore, Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan recently said that Moscow “cannot or does not want” to control and manage the Lachin corridor, which provides access from Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia.  

Pashinyan stated that Armenia’s historical security reliance on Russia was a “strategic mistake.”

Some analysts believe that Russia, due to the war in Ukraine, has focused all its attention on Ukraine and therefore, Moscow lacks a clear plan and strategy in the Caucasus region.

It seems that Russia may have become isolated on the international scene and it is losing its influence in its Soviet era backyard, namely the Caucasus region.