Poking the bear? Armenia welcomes European leaders in Russia's backyard

About this episode

The episode discusses the significance of two summits in Armenia amidst geopolitical tensions involving Russia and the US.

Just as Europe frets over fresh Trump tariffs, a US troop drawdown announced for Germany and the message it sends to a hostile Russia, how about not one but two summits in former Soviet state Armenia. Before a first-ever gathering of EU leaders in Yerevan on Tuesday comes the European Political Community: a talk shop with regional players which also include Ukraine and NATO heavyweights like the UK, Norway and an outside guest who shares superpower proximity problems. We revisit Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney 's clarion call for so-called middle powers that share common interests and values to band together. Read more European and Canadian leaders hold security talks in Yerevan amid uncertainty over US policy Is this summit a show of strength? Or a provocation sure to rile both Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump , one month before Armenia 's incumbent Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan goes before voters to sell his US-brokered peace deal with neighbouring Azerbaijan in a general election? More broadly, do wars in Iran and Ukraine make Western-style liberal democracy an easier or a harder sell? Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Andrew…

People in this episode

Host: François Picard

Topics covered

• European politics
• Armenia
• Russia
• US foreign policy
• NATO
• summits
• democracy

Keywords

• Armenia
• EU leaders
• Russia
• summit
• NATO
• Trump tariffs
• Pashinyan
• Azerbaijan
• democracy
• security talks

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: EU, NATO, Canada

Places: Armenia, Russia, Ukraine, Germany, Azerbaijan

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