Armenia Asks for Partnership with US as Belarus Joins Russia-Led Regional Bloc

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan addresses parliament in Yerevan—following an escalation in hostilities with Azerbaijan—on Sept. 13, 2022. Tigran Mehrabyan/PAN Photo via Reuters

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has called for boosting relations between his country—a nominal Russian ally—and the United States to the level of a “strategic partnership.”

In a July 4 message to U.S. President Joe Biden, Mr. Pashinyan stressed his commitment to “expanding cooperation” with Washington in economic, energy, security, and democratic reform.

This commitment, he said, reflects his government’s hope of “raising the strategic dialogue between Armenia and the United States to the level of strategic partnership.”

Describing U.S.–Armenia ties as “multi-layered and close,” Mr. Pashinyan went on to note “the significant growth ... of [bilateral] cooperation in recent years.”

Ararat Mirzoyan, Armenia’s foreign minister, voiced similar sentiments in a July 4 social media post.

“We wish friends and colleagues in the United States continued success in coming years while looking forward to building a strong strategic partnership for the benefit of our citizens [and] for a more stable and prosperous South Caucasus,” he said.

A former Soviet republic of less than 3 million people, Armenia is located in the South Caucasus region, which Russia has traditionally viewed as its backyard.

Since 1991, Armenia has been a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a six-nation defensive bloc dominated by Moscow.

However, since Russia launched its invasion of eastern Ukraine in 2022, Armenia under Mr. Pashinyan has sought to distance itself from the Moscow-led alliance.

In February, he announced that Yerevan, Armenia’s capital, had effectively suspended relations with the CSTO.

Last month, he went even further, explicitly stating—for the first time—that his country planned to exit the organization.

“We will leave,” he told Armenian lawmakers on June 12. “We will decide when to exit … [and] we won’t return.”

In past remarks, Mr. Pashinyan has blamed the CSTO—and, by extension, Moscow—for failing to stop a military offensive carried out last year by Azerbaijan, Armenia’s longstanding foe in the South Caucasus.

The two countries have fought two wars—and countless skirmishes—over the flashpoint Nagorno-Karabakh region, which is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan.

Despite Mr. Pashinyan’s recent assertions, Alexey Overchuk, Russia’s deputy prime minister, said on July 3 that Moscow still regards Armenia as an “ally.”

On the same day, a spokesman for Russia’s foreign ministry repeated claims that the United States is seeking to drive a wedge between Russia and its “friends and neighbors” in the region.

According to a State Department spokesperson, “the U.S.–Armenia partnership is strong and getting stronger.”

“We have made significant progress to deepen ... bilateral relations, including during last month’s announcement of our plans to upgrade the U.S.–Armenia Strategic Dialogue to a Strategic Partnership Commission,” the spokesperson told The Epoch Times.

“We respect Armenia’s sovereign right to pursue the relationships it so chooses,” the spokesperson asserted.

“That said,” the spokesperson added, “we have seen nothing to indicate that Russia’s military presence contributes to a more peaceful and stable South Caucasus region.”

Russian marines take position during Russia-Belarus military drills at the Obuz-Lesnovsky training ground in Belarus, on Feb. 19, 2022. Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP

Belarus Joins SCO

As Mr. Yerevan seeks to depart Moscow’s sphere of influence, Belarus joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) last week, cementing its alliance with Russia.

Founded by Moscow and Beijing in 2001, the SCO is a formidable bloc of Eurasian states whose other members include India, Pakistan, and four of the five Central Asian republics.

Iran joined the SCO last year, while Turkey has also voiced an interest in joining.

On July 4, Belarus became the organization’s 10th member at an SCO summit held in Kazakhstan, which also was attended by the leaders of Russia and China.

Speaking at the summit, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko called his country’s accession to the SCO “an event that will go down in Belarus’ history as an important milestone.”

“We strongly believe that, in the 21st century, it is imperative to build genuine and indivisible global security,” he told summit attendees on July 3.

“We will make every effort to ensure that our organization gains more weight and the number of its allies and supporters increases,” Mr. Lukashenko added.

On the same day, a Kremlin spokesman hailed Belarus’s accession to the SCO, describing the country as a “major ally” of Russia.

Before joining the SCO, Belarus was already a member of two Moscow-led regional blocs: the Commonwealth of Independent States and the CSTO. The two countries are also bound by a 25-year-old “Union State” treaty, which aims to cement bilateral ties in political, security, and economic spheres.

They currently share a security structure that includes a joint regional force and a jointly run air defense system.

In 2023, Moscow announced plans to station nuclear weapons in Belarus—a move that Mr. Lukashenko has since confirmed.

Last month, Russia and Belarus conducted joint exercises for the potential deployment of tactical nuclear weapons.

Yet despite its rapidly deepening ties with Moscow, Belarus has yet to play an active role in the war between Russia and Ukraine.

Its expanding military cooperation with Russia, however, has frequently sparked tensions with Ukraine, with which it shares a 674-mile border.

At the end of June, Minsk beefed up its border defenses after accusing Kyiv of amassing troops and equipment near Belarusian territory. Ukrainian officials dismissed the claims, saying they were part of a Russia-supported disinformation campaign.

Nevertheless, on July 5, a Belarusian military spokesman complained of continued border “provocations” by Ukraine, including alleged airspace violations by armed drones.

“These actions are staged not only for the sake of reconnaissance but also as attempts to deliver explosives ... into our territory for the sake of enabling possible actions of a diversionary nature,” the spokesman said.

Kyiv has yet to respond to Minsk’s latest allegations, which The Epoch Times couldn’t independently verify.