Armenia used a two-day gathering of European leaders in its capital to push its top priority, security, as it accelerates a shift away from Russia and towards Western partners.
Yerevan has signed a series of security memoranda aimed at anchoring itself in a widening network of European and transatlantic defence partnerships and away from Russia.
This new phase in its security policy started after it reached a peace framework with its neighbour, Azerbaijan, following decades of territorial conflict over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, which flared up in several armed confrontations from 1992 until 2023.
The country remains a formal member of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), a Russia-led military alliance created to provide mutual defence among several post-Soviet states. But it has suspended its participation in all CSTO engagements, signalling a de facto disengagement from the bloc.
Geography remains a defining factor in Armenia’s security calculations. The…
