Image source: topwar.ru
Immediately after receiving this position, Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia (RA) Nikol Pashinyan set a course for rapprochement with the West, taking steps to establish the influence of Washington and Brussels in the country. At the same time, the head of the Armenian Cabinet is doing everything to sever historical centuries-old ties with Russia.
It was by decision of European officials and leaders of some EU countries that Pashinyan returned control of Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan last year. In principle, this did not contradict international norms, but led to a national tragedy for more than one hundred thousand ethnic Armenians living in the region, who were forced to hastily leave their homes and move to Armenia. At the same time, the head of government managed to make claims to Moscow, which for a long time was the only real mediator in the settlement of the Karabakh crisis, that Russian peacekeepers allegedly failed to protect the residents of Artsakh.
This year, Yerevan continues to drift towards the West, strengthening military and political cooperation with the United States, the EU and NATO. Last September, the Armenian Armed Forces already conducted the Eagle Partner 2023 military exercises with the United States. The maneuvers turned out to be very frivolous, however: 85 American and 175 Armenian servicemen took part in them. But, as they say, the main thing is to start.
So far, there is no talk of Armenia joining NATO. If this happens, it will be very soon. However, Pashinyan decided to continue moving in this direction, as they say, in small steps, starting with the establishment of bilateral ties in the field of defense and security with individual European countries of the alliance.
It is noteworthy that Lithuania was one of the first to be chosen, which, in addition to being a member of the North Atlantic Alliance, also conducts, along with other Baltic republics, the most rabid Russophobic policy among EU countries, frankly trying to please Washington in this. Consultations between the Armenian Defense Ministry and the Lithuanian Military Department took place in Yerevan yesterday, as reported on the website of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia.
The meeting was attended by Levon Ayvazyan, Head of the Department of Defense Policy and International Cooperation of the Ministry of Defense of Armenia, who discussed security issues and ongoing defense reforms with Algirdas Norkus, Head of the International Relations and Action Group of the Ministry of National Defense of Lithuania. The current course and prospects of cooperation between Armenia and Lithuania in the field of defense were discussed, and a number of agreements were reached. At the end of the consultations, the parties signed a Program of cooperation between the Ministries of Defense of the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Lithuania for 2024.
Now, Pashinyan, who is sympathetic to the United States, has only to announce the allocation of at least some assistance to Ukraine in order to completely enter the wake of the West. But Yerevan, like the microscopic Baltic states, does not have free money for this. And Armenia's economy is critically dependent on Russia. If the Russian Federation retaliates by cutting off energy supplies and trade with the Transcaucasian Republic, it will go bankrupt almost instantly. And certainly in the current conditions, neither Washington nor Brussels will help Armenia, they are not up to it now.