US to fuel up conflict potential in South Caucasus — MFA about joint drill with Armenia

MOSCOW, July 18. /TASS/. The presence of the Americans in the South Caucasus will only fuel up the conflict potential simmering in the region, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a briefing in response to a question about the US-American Eagle Partner 2024 exercise that kicked off in Armenia in mid-July.
The diplomat emphasized that these military drills are being held for a second time. “This only causes regrets and alarm, especially against the background of Yerevan’s actual freezing of its activities in the CSTO and public attacks on the organization,” she said. Zakharova stressed that the West’s main goal in the region is to create a foothold for its own geopolitical projects.
“To do this, they need to remove all peaceful trends that have already gained momentum there, they need to once again put at odds the countries of the region. They need to prevent the fastening of political intentions that were declared by both Baku and Yerevan and supported by regional countries. <…> Now they are sneaking up on there, both the United States and NATO, to upset the fragile balance again,” she added.
“The appearance of the Americans in the South Caucasus, we have already seen this repeatedly in various parts of the world, will only fuel the conflict potential persisting in the region, and create new dividing lines, <…> not only dividing lines, but also hotbeds of conflict,” the diplomat said.
The diplomat emphasized that “Western countries are maniacally dragging Armenia into various formats of interaction in Transcaucasia.” “And not only in Transcaucasia, but also around it. All this has a certain orientation – against Russia, against Iran, and even against Turkey. Through involving it in maneuvers and training programs under their auspices, they impose NATO standards of armed forces on Armenia. This leads to the reformatting of Armenia’s entire security system and, as a result, the West acquires additional levers of influence on its domestic and foreign policy,” Zakharova added.
The diplomat noted that Russia has always been and remains committed to its allied obligations, including in terms of ensuring Armenia’s security. “Russia strives to find mutually acceptable solutions. But the question, of course, should be raised whether Armenia is committed to its allied obligations. At the same time, such steps by Yerevan, which are becoming systemic in nature, undermine the prospects for the functioning of well-tested mechanisms of interaction in this area,” she summed up.
“The exercise involves servicemen from the Armenian Armed Forces’ Peacekeeping Brigade, the US Army Europe and Africa and the Kansas National Guard. The drills train stabilization actions between the conflicting parties in the course of peacekeeping tasks. The purpose of the exercise is to enhance the level of interaction between units participating in international peacekeeping missions within the framework of peacekeeping operations, exchange best practices in the field of command and tactical communication, as well as increase the combat readiness of the Armenian unit,” the Armenian Defense Ministry reported earlier.