>Belarus delivered advanced weapons to Armenia’s arch enemy even though both countries were supposedly allies in a Russian-led international defense pact, according to leaked documents seen by POLITICO.
>The cache of files sheds new light on Armenia’s decision this week to announce it will be leaving the military alliance, a dramatic turn that will weaken Russian President Vladimir Putin’s authority with former Soviet nations.
…
>The decision by Belarus — a staunch ally of Russia — to supply advanced military hardware to Azerbaijan between 2018 and 2022, giving it the upper hand in a spate of wars with its long-standing rival, will have been regarded as a bitter betrayal by Armenia.
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>Now, a cache of more than a dozen letters, diplomatic notes, bills of sale and export passports seen by POLITICO shows that Belarus actively aided Azerbaijan’s armed forces between 2018 and 2022, as tensions peaked with Armenia. The services offered included modernizing older artillery equipment and providing new gear used for electronic warfare and drone systems.
>The documents include letters from the Belarusian state arms export agency to its own military-industrial firms relating to orders of state-of-the-art artillery targeting equipment for Azerbaijan as well as correspondence between the two states agreeing the purchase of Groza-S counter-drone mobile warfare stations for Azerbaijan’s armed forces.
…
>One of the diplomatic communications seen by POLITICO said that Belarusian enterprises were playing an active role “in the restoration of de-occupied territories of Azerbaijan, as well as the export of Belarusian goods and services” to the country.
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>Eduard Arakelyan, a military analyst at Yerevan’s Regional Center for Democracy and Security, verified that the leaked documents pertained to hardware used by Azerbaijan in recent wars, both in Nagorno-Karabakh and against the Republic of Armenia itself.
>“This equipment was used with devastating effect against Armenian troops and was provided by a country that is supposed to be an ally of Armenia,” he said. “In formal terms, it’s a complete breach of the CSTO alliance but, in practice, we’ve always known the bloc was more supportive of Azerbaijan.”
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>However, according to experts, Belarus — one of Moscow’s closest allies — was unlikely to be acting without the tacit support of the Kremlin itself. “This truly shows that with friends like Vladimir Putin, nobody needs enemies,” said Ivana Stradner, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
>“It’s ridiculous to think these transfers could have taken place without Moscow’s knowledge, and that Russia couldn’t have stopped them if it wanted to,” she added. “There is no such thing as loyalty when it comes to Moscow — it’s all about preserving their own security even if it’s at the expense of their own allies.”
Prestigious-Hand-225 on
Interesting that the arms supply from Belarus is being specifically singled out as the motive for leaving, rather than, you know, the 2022 invasion.
I suppose it sounds better to Western ears, pointing the finger at Putin’s fat Igor.
dssevag on
ARMENIA SHOULD TAKE ALL THE NECESSARY STEPS TO LEAVE THE CSTO NOW!!!
Edit: Apparently I created a haiku!!! Yay!
DavidofSasun on
Interesting how this article comes out on the same day Pashinyan makes his comments about Lukashenko/Belarus.
And just like how the article mentions, it’s highly unlikely the Kremlin didn’t know about this. In fact, I’m sure they green lit it as well.
CorgiAdditional7865 on
Even though it certainly cost us more than it’ll ever be worth, his term has effectively exposed the level of puppet state our nation has been. Placing our chips on the West really is our last option.
Mark_9516 on
russia can’t do shit if we leave CSTO, they still have a base here…be hostile against Armenia and that base will have the same fate as the Airport agents.
6 Comments
>Belarus delivered advanced weapons to Armenia’s arch enemy even though both countries were supposedly allies in a Russian-led international defense pact, according to leaked documents seen by POLITICO.
>The cache of files sheds new light on Armenia’s decision this week to announce it will be leaving the military alliance, a dramatic turn that will weaken Russian President Vladimir Putin’s authority with former Soviet nations.
…
>The decision by Belarus — a staunch ally of Russia — to supply advanced military hardware to Azerbaijan between 2018 and 2022, giving it the upper hand in a spate of wars with its long-standing rival, will have been regarded as a bitter betrayal by Armenia.
…
>Now, a cache of more than a dozen letters, diplomatic notes, bills of sale and export passports seen by POLITICO shows that Belarus actively aided Azerbaijan’s armed forces between 2018 and 2022, as tensions peaked with Armenia. The services offered included modernizing older artillery equipment and providing new gear used for electronic warfare and drone systems.
>The documents include letters from the Belarusian state arms export agency to its own military-industrial firms relating to orders of state-of-the-art artillery targeting equipment for Azerbaijan as well as correspondence between the two states agreeing the purchase of Groza-S counter-drone mobile warfare stations for Azerbaijan’s armed forces.
…
>One of the diplomatic communications seen by POLITICO said that Belarusian enterprises were playing an active role “in the restoration of de-occupied territories of Azerbaijan, as well as the export of Belarusian goods and services” to the country.
…
>Eduard Arakelyan, a military analyst at Yerevan’s Regional Center for Democracy and Security, verified that the leaked documents pertained to hardware used by Azerbaijan in recent wars, both in Nagorno-Karabakh and against the Republic of Armenia itself.
>“This equipment was used with devastating effect against Armenian troops and was provided by a country that is supposed to be an ally of Armenia,” he said. “In formal terms, it’s a complete breach of the CSTO alliance but, in practice, we’ve always known the bloc was more supportive of Azerbaijan.”
…
>However, according to experts, Belarus — one of Moscow’s closest allies — was unlikely to be acting without the tacit support of the Kremlin itself. “This truly shows that with friends like Vladimir Putin, nobody needs enemies,” said Ivana Stradner, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
>“It’s ridiculous to think these transfers could have taken place without Moscow’s knowledge, and that Russia couldn’t have stopped them if it wanted to,” she added. “There is no such thing as loyalty when it comes to Moscow — it’s all about preserving their own security even if it’s at the expense of their own allies.”
Interesting that the arms supply from Belarus is being specifically singled out as the motive for leaving, rather than, you know, the 2022 invasion.
I suppose it sounds better to Western ears, pointing the finger at Putin’s fat Igor.
ARMENIA SHOULD TAKE ALL THE NECESSARY STEPS TO LEAVE THE CSTO NOW!!!
Edit: Apparently I created a haiku!!! Yay!
Interesting how this article comes out on the same day Pashinyan makes his comments about Lukashenko/Belarus.
And just like how the article mentions, it’s highly unlikely the Kremlin didn’t know about this. In fact, I’m sure they green lit it as well.
Even though it certainly cost us more than it’ll ever be worth, his term has effectively exposed the level of puppet state our nation has been. Placing our chips on the West really is our last option.
russia can’t do shit if we leave CSTO, they still have a base here…be hostile against Armenia and that base will have the same fate as the Airport agents.