Armenia and the United States are set to hold joint military exercises, titled EAGLE PARTNER 2025, from August 12 to 20, the Armenian Defense Ministry announced. The drills, to be conducted on Armenian soil, will focus on preparing troops for participation in international peacekeeping missions.
The exercise will involve personnel from the peacekeeping brigade of the Armenian Armed Forces, U.S. Army Europe and Africa, and the Kansas National Guard. The main objectives include enhancing interoperability, improving operational readiness, and reinforcing cooperation in medical evacuation procedures, command and control, and tactical communications.
The first iteration of Eagle Partner, held in September 2023, marked the first bilateral military exercise between Armenia and the United States since 2008, according to U.S. Ambassador Kristina Kvien. While Armenian and American troops had previously trained together, it had always been in multinational, not bilateral, formats.
The second iteration of Eagle Partner was held in Armenia from July 15 to 24, 2024, further solidifying defense collaboration between the two countries. The upcoming 2025 edition builds on this trajectory and reflects a growing strategic shift in Armenia’s defense posture.
Armenian forces regularly take part in joint drills with international partners to maintain the professionalism and readiness of their peacekeeping units.
Meanwhile, Armenia is also participating as an observer in Agile Spirit 2025, a multinational NATO exercise taking place in Georgia and Turkey from July 25 to August 6.
Organized for the 12th time, Agile Spirit 2025 aims to enhance the combat readiness, operational capabilities, and interoperability of the defense forces of participating countries. The drills in Georgia are being conducted in collaboration with the Western Command of the Georgian Defense Forces and the National Guard of the U.S. state of Georgia.
Key components of the exercise include command and staff operations, a Georgian-American tactical convoy along the Senaki–Vaziani route, joint live-fire training, and special operations coordination, as well as inspections at the Combat Training Center of the Georgian Defense Forces.
Participating nations include Georgia, the United States, Turkey, Poland, Germany, Italy, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Lithuania, and Ukraine. Armenia and Japan are attending the drills in an observer capacity.
While Armenia remains a formal member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO)—a Russian-led military alliance that also includes Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan—it has effectively frozen its participation in the bloc. The Armenian government has criticized the CSTO for failing to respond adequately to Azerbaijan’s military actions in recent years, leading to rising tensions between Yerevan and Moscow.
In June, Armenia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Vahan Kostanyan stated that Yerevan may ultimately withdraw from the CSTO if Moscow fails to fulfill political commitments made following Azerbaijan’s attack on Armenia’s sovereign territory in 2022.
“We are not just hinting at the CSTO, we are explicitly stating that things cannot remain like this for long,” Kostanyan said.
