YEREVAN — The United States will appoint a resident adviser to Armenia’s Defense Ministry as part of deepening ties between the two nations, U.S. Under Secretary of State Uzra Zeya stated in an interview with Hetq.am published late on Wednesday.
“It’s a welcome development that I would encourage you to follow up with our ambassador and press team,” Zeya said at the end of a four-day visit to Armenia. “We welcome deepening defense and civilian security cooperation between the U.S. and Armenia,” she said. “This is part of the spirit embodied in the historic upgrade of U.S.-Armenia relations to a strategic partnership.”
Responding to a question about Armenia’s membership in CSTO, Zeya stated that it’s not a hindrance to greater defense cooperation with Washington. “Armenia’s CSTO membership is something only the Armenian government can decide. We respect this. I would note that our defense and civilian security cooperation has continued to deepen, while Armenia has remained a member of CSTO. But I want to make a third and final point. The United States sees nothing to indicate that Russia’s military presence contributes to a more peaceful and stable South Caucasus region,” she said.
The U.S. ambassador in Yerevan, Kristina Kvien, revealed the impending appointment when she spoke to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service in April. The U.S. military adviser, she said, will “come and sit with Armenia’s Ministry of Defense to help build capacity, particularly because Armenia is interested in expanding its participation in things like peacekeeping and other peaceful endeavors.”
“So we’re going to work with them on both reforming internally, how to get your Ministry of Defense up to modern standards, and then also how to do more in the peacekeeping area,” added Kvien.
It is not clear whether the U.S. officer will also advise the Armenian military on how to defend the South Caucasus country against foreign aggression or deal with possible U.S. arms supplies to it.
So far, Washington has mainly provided military aid to the Armenian army’s peacekeeping brigade that contributes troops to NATO-led multinational missions abroad.
Armenia underlined its growing military cooperation with the U.S. by hosting another joint U.S.-Armenian exercise that began on Monday. Defense Minister Suren Papikian and Kvien spoke during the opening ceremony of the Eagle Partner 2024 exercise designed to improve the interoperability of U.S. and Armenian soldiers participating in peacekeeping operations.
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