Yerevan's inept see-saw policy leads to loss of its main ally Armenia's wish to join NATO drills outrages Russia

Every new day, the Armenian authorities try to surprise the old and long-time unkind world. On April 6, the website of the US Department of Defence published the list of countries participating in NATO's Defender-2023 joint military exercise in Europe, which also included Armenia. According to the US defence ministry, during the exercise, "US forces will demonstrate to allies the operational deployment of troops and equipment to prove that they are capable of deterring those who threaten peace in Europe and protecting the continent from aggression".

The anti-Russian character of the exercises is virtually undisguised. In principle, even if the Pentagon did not mention in any way the purpose of the exercises, it is difficult to imagine any other addressee of the bellicose message in the context of Russian aggression in Ukraine and the supply of weapons to it by the alliance countries.

So, once again Armenia has demonstrated a careless, if not treacherous attitude towards its strategic partner - Russia. As was to be expected, pro-Kremlin TG channels ran rampant on the same day. Here's what "Siloviki" wrote: "We would ask the question with a straight face: how does this relate to Armenia's participation in the CSTO? With collective plans, common air defence forces, etc. How many military secrets of Russia and our more loyal allies than Pashinyan would Armenian generals gladly bring in the teeth to the American command?" The channel goes on to summarise: "And politically, there is no doubt about the enemy (exactly so) status of modern Armenia. It is time to draw conclusions and to act while there is an opportunity".

"Operativnie svodki" TG channel did not fail to remind that "only a couple of weeks ago Armenia acceded to the Rome Statute, hence to the International Criminal Court (ICC), which issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin. Does anyone still have questions about who Yerevan really sees as its friends and partners?"

"Politjoystick" asks: "How long shall we call as partners those who openly call us enemies? These are no longer meetings between Pashinyan and members of his government 'on the sly'; this is part of a consistent betrayal, the end of which is the opening of a second front, or at least the breaking up of all partnership relations".

And finally, the "Kremlevskaya prachka" TG channel says: "It would seem that Yerevan has tried everything to ensure that Russian-Armenian relations safely reach the bottom. But no. The Armenians have found a way to make the situation even worse".

The latter post was shared even by the leading Kremlin propagandist Vladimir Solovyov, known for his pro-Armenian position and trying at least to refrain from speaking out when those to whom he is so favourable behave inappropriately.

All this speaks to the heightened degree of rage (if rage can be measured at all) felt in the Russian top brass towards the politicians in Yerevan.

After a massive Russian media attack, the Pentagon published a new list of participating countries, which did not include Armenia. It is doubtful that this amendment was initiated by Washington. A more likely version is that Yerevan got scared of indirect or even direct threats from the Kremlin and asked Washington to exclude it.

Yes, they did. Because in a short while, the spokesperson of the Armenian Defence Ministry Aram Torosyan, asked whether Armenia would participate in Defender 2023, said that the Armenian Defence Ministry plans to participate in two other military exercises organized by the command of the US Army in Europe this year: KFOR (Kosovo Force) and Sabre Junction. But planning does not mean participating, as the Defender 2023 story shows.

Observing the foreign policy actions of Pashinyan's team, one can conclude that "yes" and "no" in the Armenian diplomatic toolkit become the simplest instruments of struggle. They say "yes" one day and "no" the next. And sometimes they do it all at the same time.

For example, Armenia has been informed and has already welcomed Poland's intention to expand its participation in the European Union observation mission in Armenia in the middle of the year. National Assembly Speaker Alain Simonyan made the statement on April 3 at a meeting in Yerevan with the delegation of the parliamentary friendship group Armenia-Poland headed by its chairman Radoslaw Fogiel.

But at the same time, a statement is made that Armenia is considering the deployment of CSTO forces on the conditional border with Azerbaijan. And in response to the Russian journalist's relevant clarifying question, a tired Maria Zakharova simply winks away annoyingly: "It is up to Armenia...".

Meanwhile, information surfaces about Armenia's agreement to host IRGC units on its soil (which we have already written about...).

Sometimes it seems that Armenia's strategy is to make as many mistakes as possible (probably an even number) in order to come up with the best possible result. And all the big players, therefore, do not give the arrogant upstart a deserved fillip but rather watch with interest to see how it all turns out.

It seems that top Armenian leaders take pleasure in annoying some and others. Apparently, this way they feel their own importance. It is as if they are guided by the principle: "If you annoy someone, you mean something. If you piss everybody off, it means that you matter a lot".

Or here is another possible slogan inspired by a Napoleonic form: "The main thing is to promise everyone, and then we will see". Just look at this small country that has promised to "shelter" Russians, Iranians, Poles, Germans, and the French. And all with weapons. Add the Armenians themselves, and the whole panorama begins to resemble a kind of reckless postmodern Wild West movie. It seems Pashinyan has decided to dilute the monoethnic composition of his country. It's certainly commendable, but why, one may ask such fanaticism? No one asked to build Sodom and Gomorrah and the Tower of Babel, for God's sake! Pashinyan's pyramid, like a financial pyramid, offers to cover risks of the previous maneuver with the next, thus only increasing overall risk. According to all the laws of the genre, the day will inevitably come when depositors will demand theirs. It is impossible for an entire country, as opposed to an individual person, to escape. Someday, sooner rather than later, a messenger from very tough guys will come to the Armenian wise men and say: "It's too late for that"... and present them with "a black spot".