Deputy Minister of Defense: There is no political implication in the  non-participation of the Armenian Armed Forces in the NATO exercise  Agile Spirit 2017

ArmInfo.There is no political implication in the non- participation of the Armenian armed forces in the multinational military exercises of NATO Agile Spirit  2017. Armenian Deputy Defense Minister Artak Zakaryan stated this in  a conversation with journalists.

"The Armenian Defense Ministry did not officially announce that it  will take part in the multinational military exercises of NATO Agile  Spirit 2017," the Armenian Deputy Defense Minister said.

According to him, there is nothing supernatural about the fact that  the Armenian side does not take part in these exercises, it is a  daily process. According to him, the armed forces of all states,  including Armenia, carry out activities in accordance with the plan  of action, which may be subject to changes based on certain factors  or tasks assigned to the armed forces.

To clarify the question whether this is due to Azerbaijan's  participation in these exercises or Armenia's membership in the CSTO,  Zakaryan noted that it's no secret that Armenia since 1992 has been  in the CSTO system. "The question is not whether the trainings are  important to us or not important. We have cooperated and will  continue to cooperate with NATO. We are also a full member of the  CSTO and the main security umbrella is visible within its system. All  the other tasks of our cooperation you always try to divide into  black and white, although this is not so. The presence of the  Turkish-Azerbaijani tandem did not affect the decision of the  Armenian side either", the deputy minister noted. According to him,  one of the important foreign political components of Armenia is to  have such a military-political component, through which it will be  possible to achieve political and military-political balance in the  region.

He also stressed that the Armenian side today does not lose anything  from not participating in these exercises.

To note, NATO exercises Agile Spirit 2017 are held in Georgia from 3  to 11 September. As reported by the Defense Ministry of Georgia,  Armenia refused participation in the exercises at the very last  moment.  Earlier it was reported that Armenia had given its consent  to participate in NATO exercises, which was also stated by  high-ranking representatives of the Ministry of Defense of the  Republic. Moreover, Armenia's refusal to participate in the exercises  was unexpected for the host country, as stated by Georgian Defense  Ministry spokesman Georgi Kajarava. The United States, Georgia,  Bulgaria, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Romania attend the exercises.

The Georgian Armed Forces and the US Marine Corps organize the  multinational training Agile Spirit 2017. The aim of the exercise is  to increase readiness for joint operations within NATO forces or to  respond to crises, as well as to improve interaction at the tactical  level between units of the participating countries, to merge infantry  and mechanized units, and to improve mutual cooperation with the  United States and partner countries.

Expert circles tend to believe that Yerevan's decision is conditioned  by pressure from Moscow.

To note, a similar situation was recorded in 2009, when Armenia also  gave its consent to participate in NATO exercises, but refused at the  very last moment.