Expert assesses security guarantees for Armenia in partnership with the US
The charter on strategic partnership between Armenia and the United States does not imply providing the republic with security guarantees at the same level as, for example, with Israel, Tigran Meloyan, an analyst at the Center for Mediterranean Studies of the National Research University Higher School of Economics, told Izvestia on January 15.
"It is important to clearly understand that the strategic partnership document between the two countries does not imply providing Armenia with security guarantees on the same level as those available between the US and Israel, or the US and Ukraine. In particular, it does not include the provision of military assistance in the form of arms deliveries or the deployment of American military bases on Armenian territory," he said.
However, Yerevan's rapprochement with Washington may affect cooperation with Moscow in one way or another, the expert believes. At the very least, it should be taken into account that two garrisons of the Russian military base have been located in Gyumri and Yerevan since 1995. According to the agreements of 2010, it will stay on the territory of the republic until 2044.
In addition, Yerevan's contacts with Baku may become even more complicated if relations with Moscow cool down, Tigran Meloyan believes.
Armenia and the U.S. signed a charter of strategic partnership on January 14. The document was signed by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan. The document implies strengthening of economic and energy ties between the countries, deepening of cooperation in defense and security, development of innovations and high technologies, expansion of contacts between the citizens of the countries and so on.
Prior to that, on January 9, the Armenian government approved at a session a draft law on starting the process of the state's accession to the European Union (EU). Mirzoyan noted that the country's relations with the union have been developing "intensively and dynamically" in recent years. According to him, the EU has provided Yerevan with assistance, particularly in the security sphere, as well as expressed readiness to help the economic development of the state.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov pointed out that it is hypothetically impossible to combine membership in the EU and the EAEU, because the two associations are significantly different. Besides, cooperation in the EAEU is beneficial for Yerevan.
