Moscow's Strategic Allies Ranking: Armenia in Second Place, The Economist

Respected publication The Economist has published an article titled "Russia's Allies: A Colorful and Shrinking Team," which presents a ranking of Moscow's strategic allies. The list includes 12 countries, with Belarus in first place and Armenia in second.

Overall, the ranking, which the authors have also referred to as the “Index of Putin’s Friends,” includes Kyrgyzstan, Iran, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Syria, China, Venezuela, Nicaragua, India, and Uzbekistan.

The ranking was based on 11 factors. For instance, the authors considered whether a country voted against the main anti-Russian resolutions at the UN, abstained, or supported Russia; whether the country has an official agreement for cooperation with Russia; the presence of Russian troops or mercenaries in the country; whether the country has supplied weapons to Russia since the beginning of the war in Ukraine; whether it relies on Russian arms; whether joint military exercises with Russia have been conducted since the start of the war; whether the country depends on Russian gas, nuclear power plants, or nuclear technologies; whether Russia's share exceeds 10% of its total trade; and whether exports to Russia have increased since the start of the war.

Half of the countries in the list, which received the highest index points (Armenia received 9 points), are mainly connected with Russia in terms of politics, history, and geography. These include Belarus, Armenia, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan.

The Economist writes, "Russia has five official allies in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO)—Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. They are all obligated to assist each other in the event of an attack on one of them. However, none of these countries has provided military support to Russia in its war against Ukraine. Belarus only provides its territory as a military base."

The article notes, "Armenia is outraged that the 3,500 Russian soldiers stationed in its territory did not come to its aid during the war with Azerbaijan in 2020. It has rejected this year's CSTO exercises and now seems to be trying to insure itself when it comes to political patrons by inviting an EU mission to monitor the border with Azerbaijan."

In the first few months following the invasion of Ukraine, Russian imports had dropped by more than 40%, but in September, the figures have generally recovered thanks to China and Turkey.