The Russian Foreign Ministry expressed concern, in particular, about the “military exercises of the United States in Armenian territory”, the visit to Kyiv by the Armenian Prime Minister’s wife and Yerevan’s decision to join the International Criminal Court (ICC). .
“Armenian authorities, over the past few days, have taken a series of unfriendly measures,” the ministry said in a statement.
According to the same text, the Armenian ambassador is entitled to a “sponsored presentation” to the Russian Foreign Ministry.
However, Russia and Armenia “remain allies and all agreements aimed at strengthening partnership relations will be respected,” the Russian ministry said.
Armenia announced on Wednesday that it would hold joint military exercises with the United States that would include its peacekeeping forces, a fresh sign of efforts by its traditional Russian ally, Yerevan.
The Kremlin responded Thursday by believing that these US-Armenian maneuvers risk destabilizing the Caucasus.
“It is clear that conducting such exercises does not stabilize the situation in the region or strengthen the atmosphere of mutual trust,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Despite Armenian criticism, he assured that “Russia continues to fulfill its role as a guarantor of regional security.”
Armenians accuse Moscow and its peacekeepers of failing to fulfill their mission, allowing Azerbaijan to block a key route to ceding Nagorny-Karabakh territory, where the two countries have been fighting for decades.
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