Georgia Expressed Concern to US over Military Shipments into Armenia from Russia

On Jan. 29, 2010, US Ambassador to Georgia John Bass sent a confidential diplomatic cable to the US State Department in which he notes that Georgian foreign minister Grigol Vashadze called the ambassador to stress the Georgian government’s concern over Armenian military cooperation with Russia.

 

In the cable, which WikiLeaks recently made public, Bass states that Vashadze “reiterated past notice of concern that the Armenians have requested more than 500 overflights for 2010, essentially a ten-fold increase over last year. Vashadze stressed that Georgia has not agreed to the entire volume of flights for 2010, but has agreed to continue overflights through the next month. Vashadze shared an internal Georgian Ministry of Defense report detailing the contents of one recent shipment as evidence of the GoG’s [Government of Georgia] concerns… Vashadze expressed concern that the amount of arms flowing into Armenia could further destabilize the region.”

 

The foreign minister also said that Georgia would have to reconsider its permission for overflights. “The FM said that between the weapons sold to Azerbaijan and now the weapons being shipped to Armenia, he fears that disagreements over Nagorno-Karabakh could quickly escalate. Georgia is worried that the Russians are using these overflights as a way to increase capabilities at Gyumri. This would allow the Russians to squeeze the Georgians from the North and South, if they so chose,” reads the cable.

 

Vashadze also touched upon Azerbaijan’s reaction to the Russian shipments into Armenia. “He said that while the Georgians don’t want to get in the middle, they are concerned about balancing the neighbors. He said that at some point soon Azerbaijan will start to question the large number of overflights and wonder what is being shipped to Armenia,” writes Bass.

 

The cable concludes with Bass requesting an assessment, “through appropriate channels,” of what the US knows or thinks it knows about Armenia’s acquisition strategy and “the extent to which these shipments are destined for them or others.”