View from Yerevan: Participation or non-participation in NATO  exercises is not an end in itself for Armenia

ArmInfo. Participation or non-participation in NATO exercises is not an end in itself for Armenia. Executive Director of the International Center for Human  Development, Advisor to the President of Armenia Tevan Poghosyan  expressed a similar opinion to ArmInfo.

Armenia does not take part in the NATO-Georgia Exercise 2019 military  exercises that started on March 18 in Georgia. About 350 soldiers  from 24 member countries and partners of the Alliance take part in  the exercises. This is the second international military exercises in  Georgia. The first were held in 2016, the military participated in  them from 14 countries and partners of NATO.

"In my opinion, the explanations of our Ministry of Defense for the  reasons for non-participation in exercises in Georgia are quite  reasonable. And I personally don't have any reason not to believe  these explanations. Our military this time simply had nothing to  learn there. Accordingly, if Armenia's interest our military, of  course, will take part in them. In any case, the leadership of the  Defense Ministry will take the decision and that's right, "he  stressed.

Poghosyan is convinced that participation in any event, first of all,  should proceed from the interests of Armenia. And in the case when  this is not the case, the leadership of the country should clearly  and clearly explain to the partner country the reasons for  non-participation, without leaving a single question mark around it.  According to his estimates, it is possible to eliminate  contradictions in the issues of Armenia's membership in the CSTO and  partnership with NATO only in one way - through dialogue. "The  concern of Russia or our NATO partners is small wonder. We, in turn,  are also obliged to convey our own concerns to the destination. In my  opinion, in this light, we just need to gradually develop diplomacy  to a level that allows us to pursue a preventive policy towards  preventing undesirable steps in relation to Armenia. In this case,  Armenia will always be free to choose actions that proceed and are  consistent with our national interests, " Poghosyan concluded.