Armenia is maneuvering between supporting the West and aiding the Russian destruction of Ukraine

The factor of political, humanitarian and military support of the states of the world to the fighting Ukraine began to prevail over the criterion of the level of democracy in the countries. It is surprising, but within the framework of former USSR, the presidents of "totalitarian" Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan openly defend democracy and freedom of Ukraine by all available means, risking being on the Kremlin's list of "unfriendly countries". And Armenia, which has unequivocally chosen the path of democracy, in the person of its ruler and people, is helping Putin's Russia.

During the voting held on February 26, 2022 in the Council of Europe on the exclusion of Russia from this organization, Armenia was the only state (not counting Russia itself) that voted against. In another vote, at an emergency meeting of the UN Human Rights Council convened by Ukraine, Armenia abstained.

On December 10, Azerbaijan sent 45 power transformers and 50 electric generators to Ukraine. The second batch of humanitarian aid will be sent in the coming days. According to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, during the war, our country provided humanitarian assistance to Ukraine totaling about 30 million manats (more than $17.5 million). This is only through the state, not counting the humanitarian aid collected by the residents of Azerbaijan.

The Armenian Republic has never, in any way, helped Ukraine, whose people are now freezing in unheated concrete apartments because the entire heating network of Ukraine has been destroyed by Russian missiles. At the same time, Prime Minister of Armenia N. Pashinyan, Deputy Chairman of the Duma of the Russian Federation K.Zatulin and the representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry M. Zakharova accuse Azerbaijan of the blockade of the Armenians of Karabakh.

Armenia is the only country in the South Caucasus that Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky did not mention in a tweet during the war with Russia. However, Zelensky twice thanked Azerbaijan for providing humanitarian aid and fuel to Ukraine," the eurasianet.org noted.

The Armenian leadership does not comment on the political choice of the country. There are assessments of Armenian politicians. But the support of Putin's Russia from the Armenian people is surprising. The Yerevan municipality did not reject information about the mass action in support of the Russian Federation held in this city. In the video, you can see pictures of Yerevan at night, taken with the help of a drone, as well as individual fragments of frames where the figure 8 is depicted in the dark with candles, which gradually turns into the symbols "Z" and "V", and this video is accompanied by the song "Katyusha".

The fact of hanging a poster in support of Russia's war against Ukraine on the Kiev Bridge in Yerevan has been confirmed. "Actions in support of Russia took place in Armenia; however, the state had nothing to do with their organization. The press speaker of the Yerevan municipality Taron Gevorgyan in his publication denied the information that the capital's leadership was associated with the above-mentioned initiatives." Also, he added that there were also actions in support of Ukraine in Yerevan," factcheck ge reported.

Indeed, there were several small pro-Ukrainian and anti-Russian demonstrations in Yerevan; the largest of them, held on February 27, was organized by the Embassy of Ukraine in Yerevan itself.

Local commentators explain the pro-Russian position of the population and the leadership of Armenia by the difficult geopolitical realities. Armenia is a member of Putin's CSTO military bloc, maintains a Russian military base on its territory and hopes for a permanent stay of Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh. Therefore, Armenia is forced to be close to Russia, and to be friends with Iran, which together with the Russian Federation are considered accomplices of global terrorism.

"No realistic reaction from Armenia would benefit the country. Hence, it is best to remain silent," political analyst Areg Kochinyan said. "Although the position of the only country other than Russia itself opposing [the decision to exclude Russia from the Council of Europe] is fraught with isolation of Armenia, it had almost no choice, much less alternatives," politician Richard Giragosyan told OC Media.

In August, a military drone competition was held in central Iran, in which Russia, Belarus and Armenia took part. Later that month, Russia used Iranian drones against Ukraine for the first time. This showed how Armenia and Belarus are involved in Iran's military assistance to Moscow.

Iran's support for Russia's war against Ukraine is carried out through Armenia, which helps Moscow evade sanctions by supplying Iranian drones and missiles through the airspace and airports of Armenia. "Iran Air Cargo", a subsidiary of "Iran Air", took off from Yerevan Zvartnots civil airport to Moscow on September 4 and 5 after two previous flights on August 21 and 29. "Iran Air Cargo", "Safiran Airport Services" and their parent company "Iran Air" are under US sanctions for transferring Iranian drones to Russia with the help of Armenia.

Note that Il-76MD aircraft of the Russian air force were also used to transport Iranian drones through Yerevan. Russia used these Iranian drones and missiles to attack Ukrainian infrastructure, which is a war crime. It ought to be noted that N. Pashinyan refuted the articles spread in the press about the supply of four Su-30 fighters to the Russian army which the Armenians could not use in the war against Azerbaijan. He also denied the transfer of Syrian militants through Armenian territory to participate in the war against Ukrainians.

Armenia is locked in a geopolitical alliance with Iran and Russia, which harms its national interests. By facilitating the supply of Iranian drones and missiles to Russia, Armenia has placed itself next to Belarus as one of the belligerents against which Ukraine is fighting. Armenia's alliance with Iran and Russia means that it is also a belligerent in their war against the West.

On November 14, 2022, the Armenian company "Milur Electronics" LLC (a branch of "Milandr" in Armenia) was sanctioned by the United States for its ties with a Russian company associated with the military-industrial complex. This is stated in a written statement by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.

In October, the US Ministry of Finance published a list of new institutions and legal entities that violate the requirements of the sanctions it imposed against the Russian Federation in 2022. According to the results of investigation conducted by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Ministry of Finance, five commercial companies of Armenia - "Taco", "Areximbank - Gazprombank Group", "VTB Bank Armenia", "Mellat Bank", "Flight Travel" LLC - were included in the US sanctions package.

This notwithstanding, in the ongoing cold war between Azerbaijan and Armenia, the European Union and the United States are leaning towards the Armenian side, which was once again seen in the assessment of the United States and the EU of the actions of Azerbaijani public activists on the Lachin road. Despite the facts of Armenia's close ties with terrorist Iran and Russia, Armenia is not threatened with international isolation. Politicians in Yerevan skillfully maneuver, explaining their choice to the West by the difficult geopolitical situation. There are separate US sanctions against Armenian companies, but there is no statement condemning the Armenian authorities from the US and the EU.

Democratic Armenia has turned away from the European Union in favor of flirting with authoritarian Iran, Russia, Belarus and Central Asia. Armenia constantly talks about "authoritarian Azerbaijan" and yet is in the same bed with other authoritarian regimes.

The United States warned Armenia about its close relations with Iran and Russia, including the visit of the head of the CIA to Armenia in the summer of 2022. Pashinyan ignored the US warning. Western governments have imposed sanctions against Russia, Belarus and Iran, but not against Armenia, for their war against Ukraine.

Western governments should threaten Armenia with sanctions if it does not stop supporting Iran and Russia. Democratic Armenia should be encouraged to abandon its fiercely anti-Western allies and re-embark on the path of European integration, which it followed until 2013," wrote Taras Kuzio, professor of political science at the National University of "Kyiv-Mohyla Academy" and author of the upcoming book "Fascism and Genocide. Russia's War against Ukrainians".