Armenia Continues To Side With Russia At UN

Underscoring its continuing close ties with Russia, Armenia has again voted against a United Nations resolution criticizing Russian actions in and around Crimea.

The latest resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly Monday voices "grave concern" over the Russian military buildup in Crimea and calls on Russia to end its “temporary occupation” of the Ukrainian region. It also demands the release of Ukrainian sailors and warships seized by the Russian military last month.

The non-binding resolution was backed by 66 countries, including NATO and European Union member states.

Nineteen other nations, including Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Cuba, Venezuela and Syria, voted against it. Two other members of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization -- Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan -- abstained.

Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko hailed the U.S.-sponsored resolution as “yet another important step towards the de-occupation of Crimea.” For its part, Russia criticized it and thanked the 19 states for siding with Moscow.

Armenia’s stance was consistent with its voting record at the UN and other international organizations. Yerevan has usually opposed measures critical of Russia, the South Caucasus state’s leading ally.

Those include a 2014 General Assembly resolution that that condemned Moscow’s annexation of Crimea and upheld Ukraine’s sovereignty over the Black Sea peninsula. The then Armenian government’s decision to vote against it angered Ukraine, which recalled the Ukrainian ambassador in Yerevan in protest.

Armenia’s current leadership has not changed that policy. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has repeatedly pledged to keep his country allied to Russia since he swept to power in a democratic revolution in May.

At his first meeting with Pashinian held on May 14, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed hope that Yerevan and Moscow will continue to cooperate in the international arena. Putin singled out the UN, noting that the two nations “have always supported each other” there.

In June, Armenia voted against a UN General Assembly resolution calling for the withdrawal of Russian troops from the breakaway Transdniester region of Moldova.