Armenia Seeks Western Support as Relations With Russia Deteriorate The Wall Street Journal
Day: October 25, 2023
EU Cites “Lack of Time” for Preparing an Agenda, While Yerevan Blames Baku
Talks between Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, scheduled to take place before the end of the month in Brussels, have been postponed, Toivo Klaar, the European Union’s Caucasus representative said on Wednesday.
Speaking remotely at a forum in Yerevan entitled “Progress in Uncertainty,” Klaar cited “lack of time” for the necessary preparations for the talks as the reason. Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan on Wednesday accused Aliyev of backing out the meeting, saying all indications until Klaar’s announcement suggested that the talks would take place.
After backing out of another set talks in Granada, Spain earlier this month, during telephone conversation with the European Council President Charles Michel, Aliyev voiced his readiness to take part in the now canceled talks. Since then, however, he and his government have criticized the EU and France for taking pro-Armenian positions on the issue. Aliyev has overtly has take a more pro-Russia stance, as tensions continue to escalate between Moscow and Yerevan.
Klaar said that the objective of the talks were to address the return of Artsakh Armenians to their homes, from which they driven out after Azerbaijan launched a large-scale attack forcing a mass exodus.
Klaar emphasized that the EU believes that eventually a peace document will be signed between Yerevan and Baku.
The EU diplomat also said that the so-called “3+3” meeting of foreign ministers in Tehran was positive, saying the prospect of creating a regional bloc was not inconsistent with other efforts for peace in the region.
He said that discussions between neighboring countries are important and useful, and the EU, in principle, is always in favor of cooperation.
Speaking at a joint press conference in Yerevan with the visiting Canadian Foreign Minister Malenie Joy, Mirzoyan was unequivocal in his instance that Aliyev, again, backed out talks mediate by the EU.
Mirzoyan said “it is simple and clear: apparently, the president of Azerbaijan has not found the time,” in response to a reporter’s question about whether Azerbaijan’s latest pressure campaign over the so-called “Zangezur Corridor” might have derailed the scheduled talks.
“We [Armenia] are still ready for the meeting. I hope the reason is really the lack of time. And there will be an opportunity to decide new timeframes for the meeting. Armenia is ready for the meeting,” Mirzoyan said. “As I have already said, we are committed to the peace agenda.”
The cancelation of the EU talks comes two days after Mirzoyan held an informal meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Jeyhun Bayramov, in Tehran, on the margins of the so-called “3+3”summit of foreign miniters.
“We had informal contacts in Tehran two days ago, and Armenia is ready to quickly continue the peace process, including toward the achievement of a peace treaty. Our approaches are known,” Mirzoyan said, adding that in the future it will become clear whether the postponement of the EU talks was really a question of timing.
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon plans to send Israel two Iron Dome missile defense systems as the country continues to fight the militant group Hamas, according to a U.S. Defense Department official.
The transfer will aid Israel’s air defense after Hamas on Oct. 7 launched a massive, coordinated attack — making it the deadliest day for Israel in 50 years. Some 1,400 Israelis have since been killed, and Hamas continues to fire rockets from the Gaza strip.
Is Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system ironclad?
“As we’ve said previously, the U.S. will be flowing additional Iron Dome support to Israel,” the official said. “As a result, the Department of Defense is currently engaged in planning to support the provision of U.S. Iron Dome batteries to Israel.”
The U.S. Army bought the two Iron Dome systems — manufactured by Israeli defense company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and co-developed by RTX — at the request of Congress several years ago. The purchase was meant to fill a gap in cruise missile defense while the Army developed a longer-term countermeasure for various air and missile threats. But the service doesn’t plan to purchase more Iron Domes or to integrate the system into its air defense architecture, Army officials have told Defense News.
It has scarcely used the two batteries it has. Army personnel trained with the Iron Dome systems at Fort Bliss, Texas, before one system deployed to Guam at the end of 2021 for a two-week exercise. Otherwise, the systems have sat with a unit at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state.
The official, speaking on background to discuss the transfer, did not specify under what arrangement the batteries will be provided, nor did the official say whether the batteries will be returned to the U.S. should they survive combat.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin recently announced the Defense Department is also deploying a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery and Patriot air defense battalions to the region.
By providing Iron Domes, the U.S. continues to widen the spigot of security aid entering Israel. In the week after Hamas’ attack, Pentagon and Israeli officials announced the arrival of American aircraft stocked with air defense supplies and munitions. It has since expanded this aid to include artillery rounds, armored vehicles and precision-guided munitions, according to Israeli and American officials.
The supply effort is just one stream in a larger outpouring of American support.
One carrier strike group — led by the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford — has already deployed to the Eastern Mediterranean. Another is on its way to the Persian Gulf. Meanwhile, a Marine expeditionary unit and 2,000 troops are readying themselves to deploy within a day if given orders by the White House, said Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh.
Austin, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and President Joe Biden have all visited the country, pledging continued U.S. support. In a nighttime address from the Oval Office, the president asked Congress for more than $100 billion in supplemental security aid, including $14.3 billion for Israel. The aid so far has not come with conditions that Israel limit civilian casualties.
Still, U.S. officials in the last week have publicly called on its closest Middle Eastern ally to obey the laws of war. As Israel retaliates, some 5,000 people in Gaza have been killed so far, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which is run by Hamas.
With more than 2,000 rockets intercepted, Iron Dome is among the most statistically successful air defense system in the world, said Tom Karako, director of the missile defense project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank.
“This is a system that was built to defend [against] certain kinds of threats, especially the kinds of threats that Israel is facing,” Karako said.
Each battery consists of three main parts: a radar, a command-and-control system, and the launchers that fire interceptors. Each of these, Karako argued, will be useful for Israel, as extra radars will increase their ability to detect threats, while more launchers and command-and-control technology will help defend more Israeli territory from rocket fire.
Should the war widen beyond the Gaza strip, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has tens of thousands of rockets it could fire, said Karako.
This week, Israel’s military said its aircraft had struck two Hezbollah cells, which the country said were preparing to launch rockets across the border.