Kremlin, on US-Armenia ties, says Washington plays destabilising role in Caucasus

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Tuesday that Russia values its close relations with Armenia and that the United States, which is set to sign a strategic partnership agreement with Armenia, had never played a stabilising role in the region.

An ex-Soviet republic, Armenia has traditionally served as a key ally of Russia but in recent years the country has forged closer ties with the West.

"The United States, of course, is trying in every possible way to pull new countries into its wake," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters during a daily briefing.

Washington, he added, "has never played a particularly stabilising role in the South Caucasus - one could even say the opposite".

Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken are set to sign a strategic partnership agreement in Washington later on Tuesday. The State Department and the Armenian ministry did not release further details.

Washington and Yerevan hold annual joint military drills in Armenia and the countries have signed several trade and investment agreements. The U.S. also hosts a sizable Armenian diaspora.

Armenia's parliament last week backed a bill to launch the country's bid to join the European Union, although a rapid accession is unlikely.

Yerevan's relations with Moscow meanwhile have soured over what Armenia casts as Russia's failure to defend it from neighbouring rival Azerbaijan, including during a brief war in 2023.

Though Armenia remains a treaty ally of Russia, it has said repeatedly that it does not support Moscow's war in Ukraine and has sent humanitarian aid to Kyiv.

Peskov told reporters that Armenia had a sovereign right to develop ties with any country, but said Russia values its relations with Armenia and "intends to develop them further".

(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Mark Trevelyan and Angus MacSwan)