WASHINGTON, September 11. /TASS/. Armenia and the US on Monday started joint peacekeeping exercises Eagle Partner 2023, a spokesman for the US Army's Europe and Africa Command told AFP.
"Exercise Eagle Partner's opening ceremony has kicked off," he said.
The ceremony took place at the Zar training center near Yerevan and involved about 85 US soldiers and 175 Armenian troops, said the spokesman, who wasn’t identified.
The US Army Europe and Africa Command earlier reported that the exercises will allow both countries to build relations at the tactical level and increase the interoperability of peacekeeping units.
On September 6, the Armenian Defense Ministry said that joint military exercises between Armenia and the United States will be held in Armenia from September 11 to 20. Later, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that Azerbaijan had built up troops on the border with Armenia and the dividing line with Nagorno-Karabakh. He said "the situation is such that the international community, member states of the UN Security Council should take serious measures to prevent a new explosion in the region."
According to Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the military exercises by Armenia and the United States do not help with the stabilization of the situation in the region. He said Russia continues to fulfill its functions as a security guarantor, and Moscow also continues consistent and constructive work with both Yerevan and Baku. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a news conference following the G20 summit in New Delhi that Russia regretted Armenia’s plans to hold military exercises with the US.