This is a question I wrote an answer for on Quora, and decided to share it here as well. I’m far from an expert, but I just visited Armenia a couple of months ago. Before answering some questions, here are some facts about Armenia and Russia:
Armenians and Russians have a lot of political, cultural, and religious exchange. Armenian and Russian Orthodox churches are very similar, though distinct. Most of the Armenians I met spoke at least some Russian, which was fortunate for me, because almost no one could speak English. There are many Russian tourists in the capital city of Yerevan and the surrounding areas.
Russia is a big country, Armenia is a small country, and it’s historically been a fruitful partnership – literally. Armenia is known for its vineyards and I love Armenian wine. However, that’s not quite enough to be a prosperous country. Especially a landlocked country like Armenia. Russian investment and sponsorship helped Armenians get the basic ammenities they needed, and Armenian products had a large market to be sold at. Virtually all of Armenia’s modern infrastructure (like Yerevan’s metro line) was built in the Soviet period, and made possible by money from Moscow. To be frank, Armenia’s survival up to the present day is largely due to the efforts of the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, and the Russian Federation. Just two relatively recent examples:
-In WWI, Russian troops frustrated Ottoman efforts to conquer Eastern Armenia and bring the genocide there.
-In WWII, the Turkish army planned to annex the Armenian SSR if the Soviet Union collapsed under the nazi invasion. It didn’t, so Turkey begrudgingly sided with the Allies… in 1945, literally a few months before the war ended, and Nazi Germany had very obviously been defeated for years by that point. Just to be clear, I like Turks, and I don’t mean this as some personal or ethnic attack on them, I’m just stating facts. Remember that thought because it’s important later.
After the dissolution of the USSR and checks from Moscow stopped coming, Armenia, like everyone else, tried to find new sponsors in the West. The USA did send some money, but of course, there were strings attached, and not good ones. America’s game with Armenia is particularly nasty. American propaganda peddles Turks and Islam as existential enemies of Armenia. I won’t go into details here, but you can read a fairly lengthy article I wrote about here.
In a nutshell, USAID and other propaganda arms of the American government deliberately try to rile up as much Armenian nationalism as possible to discourage them from seeking a lasting peace deal with their much larger and stronger neighbor Azerbaijan. If that sounds familiar, you’re right. American propagandists politicize the Armenian genocide is copy/paste the same tactic they use with the Soviet famines in the Great Depression to make Ukrainians hate Russians. And what’s particularly gross about this agitation against Armenians is that Americans simultaneously fund, train, and arm Azerbaijan. The USA is quite obviously manipulating both sides so they can sell more weapons. Armenia is the weaker party, so continued warfare hurts them more. It’s tragic, especially considering that Armenia and Azerbaijan coexisted as brotherly nations under the Soviet Union.
Honestly, I think the Armenia question goes beyond a typical desire to sell weapons. American liberal elites are satanists who bitterly hate Christians and want to destroy them whenever and wherever possible. In every American/NATO war, Christians suffer disproportionately (Another case in point – Syria. Assad’s government is secular and protects Christians, America’s “allies” are Muslim extremists who hate Christianity).
Russia still has peacekeepers in Armenia, but they are limited in their authority, and are not there to help Armenia win, like NATO “advisors” in Ukraine. Russian soldiers just seek to keep the two sides off each other’s throats. There is also, I suspect, an understanding that it is not of any benefit to Russia to get too deep into Armenia’s troubles. Small countries always have a motivation to drag their large protectors into local conflicts. Russians seem to get this so stay hands-off unless absolutely necessary. I really wish American leaders would take a page from their Russian counterparts and at least pretend to care about Americans instead of offering tens of billions of dollars of “unwaivering commitment” to every tinpot dictator in the world.
From both an economic and military perspective, Russian support for Armenia is difficult. They do not share a border and as I mentioned previously, Armenia is landlocked. That makes importing Armenian goods to Russia annoying. Though, in fairness, it is possible to buy Armenian wine in Russia, it’s just easy to miss if you’re not looking for it. But Armenia simply cannot enjoy the economic benefits of trade with Russia the same way a direct neighbor can. Georgia, despite their sour relations, can make a great deal of money from selling their wares to Russian consumers. I’m sure Georgian politicians are aware of this, which is maybe part of the reason why they didn’t so eagerly become cannon fodder for NATO.
In the end, to answer the question “Do Armenians support Russia?” – no, Armenians support Armenia, and think about their own interests. Like the vast majority of people in the world, Armenians aren’t directly impacted by fighting in Ukraine, so don’t have a compelling reason to care about it. Also, Russia doesn’t require Armenian support. It’s really that simple. And that’s another big difference between Russia and the USA. Russia does not demand complete fealty from her allies, and repeatedly threaten them with punishment for disobedience.
Ian Kummer
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Thanks.
Good post and very informative.