Armenia deepens military ties with Western allies

MILAN — The European Union has announced a milestone decision that involves pumping millions of euros into Armenia’s industries in an attempt to pull the country closer to Western allies and away from its historical ally, Russia.

Following talks last week in Brussels with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the bloc will invest €270 million ($287 million) over the next four years to support the country’s economy.

“We will make investments to strengthen Armenia’s economy and society, making them more robust and stable in the face of shocks,” she said at a media briefing on April 5.

Sectors in line for grants include infrastructure projects, renewable energy and small to medium enterprises.

While the newly announced aid does not explicitly include defense and security, experts note that some EU and NATO countries are separately deepening their military partnerships with Yerevan to that end.

“France has established the most tangible defense cooperation with Armenia and has already provided military equipment to Armenia in the last several months,” Sossi Tatikyan, an independent consultant on Armenian foreign and security policy, told Defense News.

Last month, French Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu visited Yerevan to discuss the boosting of defense ties with his Armenian counterpart.

They recently signed a contract for the supply of rifles produced by the French company PGM and discussions are said to be ongoing for a potential sale of MBDA’s short-range Mistral missiles, according to Politico.

Pashinyan announced in the same week that Armenia had suspended its membership in the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a military alliance dominated by Russia.

“Armenia has been refusing to sign CSTO documents since November 2022 and participate in its meetings since last year – Armenian leadership has also stated that it is considering possible de jure exit from it,” Tatikyan said.

In September of 2022, Azerbaijan launched a military offensive during which Armenia says the CSTO and Russia failed to step in to prevent casualties and the mass departure of thousands of ethnic Armenian residents.

Other signs that the South Caucasus country is attempting to stray away from Russian influence have included sending humanitarian aid packages to Ukraine and publicly stating that Armenia is not Moscow’s ally in the war against Kyiv .

“The measures that Armenia has taken against the circumvention of our sanctions against Russia ... this shows that the EU and Armenia are increasingly aligned in values and interests,” von der Leyen said.

Tatikyan also notes that Armenia and the United States have shared longstanding bilateral defense ties.

“The two have conducted [a number of] joint military exercises… [But] so far, their defense cooperation has addressed rather soft security aspects such as military education and dialogue,” she said.

According to an April 11 interview by the U.S. ambassador to Armenia, Christina Quinn, with local media, Washington has agreed to provide the country with armored ambulances.

Last year, 80 American soldiers were sent to train with the Armenians as part of the Eagle Partner 2023 military exercise, likely irking Russia, which still has a military base in Armenia.

Editor’s note: This article was updated to correct a date reference to an Azerbaijan-launched military offensive.

Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo was a Europe correspondent for Defense News. She covers a wide range of topics related to military procurement and international security, and specializes in reporting on the aviation sector. She is based in Milan, Italy.

米兰——欧盟宣布了一项里程碑式的决定，将向亚美尼亚的工业注入数百万欧元，试图使该国更靠近西方盟友，并远离其历史盟友俄罗斯。

上周在布鲁塞尔与亚美尼亚总理尼科尔·帕希尼扬会谈后，欧盟委员会主席乌尔苏拉·冯德莱恩表示，欧盟将在未来四年投资 2.7 亿欧元（2.87 亿美元）以支持该国经济。

“我们将进行投资，以加强亚美尼亚的经济和社会，使其在面对冲击时更加强大和稳定，”她在4月5日的新闻发布会上说。

有望获得资助的领域包括基础设施项目、可再生能源和中小企业。

虽然新宣布的援助并未明确包括国防和安全，但专家指出，一些欧盟和北约国家正在单独深化与埃里温的军事伙伴关系，以达到这一目的。

“法国与亚美尼亚建立了最切实的防务合作，并在过去的几个月里向亚美尼亚提供了军事装备，”亚美尼亚外交和安全政策独立顾问索西·塔蒂基扬告诉《防务新闻》。

上个月，法国武装部队部长塞巴斯蒂安·勒科尔努访问了埃里温，与亚美尼亚同行讨论了加强防务关系的问题。

据 Politico 报道，他们最近签署了一份合同，采购法国 PGM 公司生产的步枪，并且据说双方正在就 MBDA 公司生产的短程“西北风”导弹的潜在销售进行讨论。

同一周，帕希尼扬宣布亚美尼亚暂停其在集体安全条约组织（一个由俄罗斯主导的军事联盟）的成员资格。

塔蒂基扬说：“自2022年11月以来，亚美尼亚一直拒绝签署集体安全条约组织的文件，并且自去年以来一直拒绝参加该组织的会议——亚美尼亚领导人还表示，它正在考虑从法律上退出该组织。”

2022 年 9 月，阿塞拜疆发动军事进攻，亚美尼亚称集体安全条约组织和俄罗斯未能介入阻止人员伤亡和数千名亚美尼亚族居民的大规模撤离。

南高加索国家试图摆脱俄罗斯影响的其他迹象包括向乌克兰运送人道主义援助物资，以及公开声明亚美尼亚不是莫斯科在对抗基辅的战争中的盟友。

冯德莱恩表示：“亚美尼亚针对规避我们对俄罗斯制裁的行为所采取的措施……表明欧盟和亚美尼亚在价值观和利益方面越来越一致。”

塔蒂基扬还指出，亚美尼亚和美国有着长期的双边防务关系。

“两国已经进行了多次联合军事演习……但到目前为止，他们的防务合作主要集中在军事教育和对话等软性安全方面，”她说。

据美国驻亚美尼亚大使克里斯蒂娜·奎因4月11日接受当地媒体采访时表示，华盛顿已同意向该国提供装甲救护车。

去年，80名美国士兵被派往亚美尼亚参加“雄鹰伙伴2023”军事演习，与亚美尼亚人一起训练，这很可能激怒了俄罗斯，因为俄罗斯在亚美尼亚仍然设有军事基地。

编者按：本文已更新，更正了有关阿塞拜疆发动军事进攻的日期引用。

伊丽莎白·戈斯林-马洛曾任《防务新闻》欧洲通讯员。她的报道涵盖军事采购和国际安全等广泛领域，尤其擅长航空领域的报道。她常驻意大利米兰。