Армения понимает что от США им некуда деться, и представляют себя как государство готовое участвовать во всех возможных military программах и выделение С.Штатами денег Азербайджану на обеспечение безопасности Каспийского региона конечно же беспокоит наших соседей.
Вот так вот получается " Армения - "союзник" России "
Armenia seeks US aid parity with Azerbaijan
JANE'S DEFENCE WEEKLY
NOVEMBER 09, 2005
By Joshua Kucera, JDW Staff Reporter
WASHINGTON, DC -- Armenia has asked the US to correct a perceived
imbalance between military aid to that country and to its former
adversary and neighbour, Azerbaijan, Armenia's defence minister has
told
JDW.
US law requires equal amounts from the primary US security assistance
programme, Foreign Military Financing (FMF), to go to Azerbaijan and
Armenia. However, in light of the seven-year, USD80 million Caspian
Guard maritime security initiative that the US has established in
Azerbaijan, Armenia believes it should get a comparably large
programme,
said Defence Minister Serzh Sargsyan.
Sargsyan met US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on 28 October and
raised the issue, but did not request a specific type of aid. "Of
course
it is very desirable to have another programme to even the scales, and
it would be fair," he said. "If ... parity is disturbed even by
USD50,000 in advantage to Azerbaijan, this may be viewed as an
encouragement to that country."
Sargsyan said he met with several members of Congress who assured him
that the FMF parity would be maintained in the Fiscal Year 2006 defence
budget now being completed by Congress.
Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Commander Joe Carpenter confirmed that
Rumsfeld and Sargsyan discussed security co-operation issues but would
not comment further.
Caspian Guard is a programme intended build up the maritime
surveillance, command-and-control and quick-reaction abilities of
Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan around the Caspian Sea. Although Armenia is
landlocked, Armenian officials worry that US aid to Azerbaijan could
allow Baku to spend its limited resources on building up military
forces
in other parts of the country, such as near Armenia. The two countries
fought in the early 1990s over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Sargsyan said that Armenia did not see a rising threat from Azerbaijan
and said that if Baku wanted to engage in an arms race, Yerevan could
respond but that it would come at the cost of Armenia's economy.
The US has recently completed an assessment of Armenia's armed forces
and by the end of November is expected to deliver its findings to the
Armenian government. Sargsyan said that some of the reforms that are
expected to come out of the assessment are a new national security
strategy document and a concomitant military doctrine, reformed budget
processes, increasing the number of civilians in the defence
establishment and divestment of unnecessary bases and other
infrastructure.
Armenia also plans to stand up a full peacekeeping brigade by 2010 and
has asked the US for assistance. Armenia has small peacekeeping
contingents in Iraq and Kosovo.
"The Secretary expressed appreciation on Armenia's contributions to
stabilisation operations in Iraq and peacekeeping in Kosovo. These
contributions have been helpful," Lt Cdr Carpenter said.
Armenia will host a NATO medical and rescue exercise in 2006, but the
list of participants is not complete. In 2004 NATO cancelled an
exercise
in Azerbaijan because of that country's refusal to allow Armenian
forces
to participate.