Yerevan criticizes Moscow for not having defended it in the face of “provocations” from Azerbaijan in the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed region.
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L’Armenia announced, Tuesday, January 10, to refuse to host military maneuvers in 2023 from an alliance led by Russia, against a backdrop of dissatisfaction with Moscow because of the blocking of a vital axis for the supply of the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. This announcement comes as Armenia has multiplied the signs of irritation towards its Russian ally, whom it accuses of not acting in the face of Azerbaijan’s “provocations” around Karabakh, where Moscow, currently entangled in its offensive in Ukraine, however, has deployed a peacekeeping force.
“Armenia does not consider it expedient to conduct exercises of the Collective Security Treaty Organization [OTSC] This year […]. These exercises will not take place,” Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told a press conference. According to the Prime Minister, Yerevan has already informed the leadership of this alliance military led by Moscow and which brings together several former Soviet republics.
In particular, he reproached the CSTO for having “refused to condemn the actions of Azerbaijan » and to Russia not to play its role of « guarantor of the security » of Armenia. “Armenia expected specific actions of from Russian partners and other security partners. But it was said in Yerevan that the borders of Armenia and Azerbaijan were not demarcated,” Nikol Pashinian again reproached.
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Nagorno-Karabakh, the enclave at the heart of tensions
Yerevan notably accuses Russian peacekeepers present in Nagorno-Karabakh of inaction, while Azerbaijanis have been blocking the Lachin corridor for several weeks, a vital axis for supplying this disputed enclave between the two countries. “The Russian peacekeeping contingent must ensure the normal functioning of the Lachin Corridor,” the Armenian official insisted on Tuesday. “If it suddenly turns out that Russia cannot fulfill its obligations […]it must go to the UN,” he added.
Yerevan also criticizes Moscow for not having played its role of mediator during violent clashes on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan in September, when Yerevan had asked for help from the CSTO of which it is a member. Interrogates on reviews of Nikol Pashinian, the Kremlin played the appeasement by affirming that “Armenia is a very close ally” with which Russia will “continue the dialogue, including on the delicate subjects”.
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