Defence

Alexander Bortnikov, the director of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), has claimed that Armenia is postponing peace talks with Azerbaijan in order to deploy a NATO contingent in the South Caucasus, in line with a Western agenda. These remarks have been refuted by Peter Stano, a spokesman for the European External Action Service (EEAS). Stano claims that the West strongly supports the peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan and has no intention of establishing a NATO presence in the region.  

NATO's new Secretary General Mark Rutte visited Kyiv on Thursday (3 October). It is Rutte's first working trip since officially taking office earlier this week. Earlier, Rutte announced that Ukraine's NATO membership would be one of the spearheads of his policy.

The Armenian government plans to increase military spending by about 20 per cent, equivalent to 110 billion drams (about $286 million). According to the proposed state budget for 2025, the Ministry of Defence will receive 664.6 billion drams (about $1.7 billion). Military expert Leonid Nersisyan, a researcher at the Armenian analytical centre APRI, describes this defence spending as unprecedented. However, he points out that despite the increased budget, Yerevan still lags far behind Baku in terms of military spending. Military spending remains lower than social spending in the state budget. Although the gap in military spending between Armenia and Azerbaijan is narrowing, with Armenia now trailing by a factor of two instead of five or six as it did in 2013, the difference remains significant.

The United States has announced a $20 million aid package to strengthen Armenia's cyber, border and energy security, USAID Administrator Samantha Power announced at a Democracy Delivers Initiative event in New York. The event, co-hosted by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, was attended by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah fired a rocket at the Israeli city of Tel Aviv on Wednesday morning (25 September) for the first time since the Gaza war broke out almost a year ago. It is also Hezbollah's deepest strike inside Israel. The militant movement's target was the headquarters of Mossad, Israel's secret service. The missile was intercepted by Israel.

Belarus said on Monday (19 August) that it had sent more troops to its border with Ukraine. A day earlier, President Alexander Lukashenko said nearly a third of the Belarusian army was stationed on the border, although he did not give exact figures. Belarusian General Andrei Lukyanovich said this included anti-aircraft troops.

Croatia reintroduces a two-month military service from next year. The country is taking the measure because of heightened tensions in Europe and the Balkans following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.