Armenia announced today that it will host joint military exercises with the United States next week, likely to irritate Russia, Reuters reported.

The Armenian Defense Ministry said the purpose of the "Eagle Partner 2023" exercise, which will take place from September 11 to 20, is to prepare Armenian forces to participate in international peacekeeping missions.

It was not announced how many American and Armenian soldiers will join "Eagle Partner 2023".

Russia has a military base in Armenia and considers itself the leading power in the South Caucasus region, which until 1991 was part of the Soviet Union.

Moscow maintains a peacekeeping force in the region that monitors compliance with the agreement that ended the 2020 war between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the second between the two neighbors since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in an interview with an Italian newspaper this past weekend that Russia had failed to defend Armenia against what he said was "Azerbaijan's continued aggression". He noted that Russia's war in Ukraine does not allow it to meet all of Armenia's security needs.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters yesterday that he disagreed with Pashinyan's words.

"Russia is a completely integral part of this region," Peskov pointed out. "Russia has played a consistent, very important role in stabilizing the situation in this region...and we will continue to play that role."

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