Zakharova: At NATO drills in Armenia, Armenian soldiers will be trained to fight against Russia

ArmInfo. At NATO exercises in Armenia, Armenian military personnel will be trained to fight against Russia. This was stated on June 18 during a briefing by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova.

"Against the backdrop of Yerevan freezing its membership in the CSTO—and let me remind you, in the words of Nikol Vovayevich Pashinyan, 'the CSTO left Armenia,' although they began freezing this structure that had allegedly already left. It is a complicated logic, but at this stage, they say they have frozen their membership in the CSTO. Such joint maneuvers with NATO countries cause nothing but regret. Separate concern is raised by the fact that the implementation of these training programs on Armenian territory is becoming systemic," the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson emphasized.

In this vein, she recalled that these exercises have been held annually since 2023. The diplomat added that no matter what peacekeeping tasks these drills proclaim, the primary goal of NATO members is obvious. According to her, the most surprising part is that NATO members themselves do not hide it.

"It consists in continuing to detach the republic from its traditional ally, Russia. It is a secret to no one that during this type of training, it is our country that is positioned as the probable adversary—this phrase comes from NATO's doctrinal documents. This means that Armenian military personnel will be trained to fight against Russia. At one time, this was completely unimaginable, not least because such a large number of ethnic Armenians live in our country," the Russian diplomat added.

She added that while this was previously unimaginable, it now aligns with statements from top Armenian leadership asserting that Armenia is not Moscow’s ally, including on the Ukraine issue. According to her, the West reads these signals, draws conclusions, and begins dragging Yerevan into a confrontation with the Russian Federation.

"Furthermore, the exercises allow Western nations to impose their own standards of military construction and command, thereby gaining additional leverage over Armenia and its policies. Of course, it is naive to rely on some kind of Western security umbrella—it is nothing more than an illusion," she emphasized, adding that the West is always the first to abandon its allies when things go wrong.

She went on to state that against this backdrop, Yerevan potentially losing Moscow as a military ally is entirely real. The Russian diplomat also pointed out the importance of considering the positions of other countries in the region when organizing such drills. "However, in their rush to please the West, Yerevan chose to disregard these matters, as well as the fact that these exercises will certainly bring no benefit to stabilizing the South Caucasus, but will instead create new geopolitical fault lines and threats," Zakharova concluded.

Earlier, the Ministry of Defense of Armenia announced that the Eagle Partner 2026 military exercises would take place in the republic from June 17 to 25. The drills involve personnel from the Peacekeeping Brigade of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia, the U.S. Army Europe and Africa, the Kansas National Guard, as well as the armed forces of France and Greece.

The primary goals of the exercises include enhancing the level of interoperability for units participating in international peacekeeping missions, exchanging best practices in command and tactical communication, and strengthening the readiness of Armenia's peacekeeping units.