Russia says Armenia's warmer ties with NATO risk destabilizing region

PHOTO CAPTION: U.S. and Armenian soldiers call for suppression fire during a drill in a training area in Armenia amid the Eagle Partner 2023 joint training exercise, Sept. 14, 2023. (U.S. Army Reserve photo by Spc. Andrew Mendoza via U.S. Defense Visual Information Distribution Service)

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday that Armenia's tilt towards NATO was a cause for regret and concern, and said Yerevan's actions risked destabilising the wider South Caucasus region.

At her regular press briefing, Zakharova said that Armenia's closer relations with the U.S.-led alliance caused "not just regret, but also concern for Armenia's future".

She added that Yerevan's shift towards the West risked "destabilising" the South Caucasus, a region in which Russia has traditionally exerted major influence.

Yerevan, traditionally Russia's closest regional ally, has stoked warmer ties with the NATO alliance in recent years as its ties with Moscow have become more strained.

Armenian officials blame Russia for failing to protect it from long-time rival Azerbaijan, which retook the former breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh in September 2023.

Zakharova said that U.S.-Armenian military exercises, set to conclude on July 24, were also a cause for alarm, especially after Yerevan froze its participation in the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) earlier this year.



(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Andrew Osborn)