Sept 6 (Reuters) - Armenia said on Wednesday it would host a joint military exercise with the United States next week, a development likely to irritate Russia.
The Armenian Defence Ministry said the purpose of the Sept. 11-20 "Eagle Partner 2023" exercise was to prepare its forces to take part in international peacekeeping missions.
Russia has a military base in Armenia and sees itself as the pre-eminent power in the South Caucasus region, which until 1991 was part of the Soviet Union.
It maintains a peacekeeping force in the region to uphold an agreement that ended a war between Armenia and Azerbaijan in 2020, the second they have fought since the Soviet collapse.
"Russia plays a consistent, very important role in stabilising the situation in this region ... and we will continue to play this role."
Persons:
Nikol Pashinyan, Dmitry Peskov, Pashinyan's, Mark Trevelyan, Christina Fincher
Organizations:
United, Armenian Defence Ministry, Eagle, Thomson
Locations:
Armenia, United States, Russia, U.S, South Caucasus, Soviet Union, Azerbaijan, Soviet, Italian, Ukraine