Russia's Interests in Near Abroad Case study: Armenia

The attempt to retrieve Russia's position as one of the key actors in the international arena can be considered as a major feature of Russian foreign policy after Putin's rise to power. The Kremlin's foreign policy strategy in relation to the revival of the Russian empire and the vulnerable geopolitical situation and the political isolation of the Republic of Armenia have provided the basis for further Kremlin-Yerevan cooperation and promoted relations to the level of strategic partnership. The strategic partnership and the sustained cooperation that the two countries have had after the collapse of the Soviet Union have provided the Kremlin's strategic interests in the Caucasus region.
According to the above matters, the present article aims to study the political, economic and military-security dimensions of Russian influence in the Republic of Armenia. The main question of this article refers to the interests of Russia towards unification with Armenia. Providing Russia's political and security benefits, including dismantling the Western-European political and military infrastructure (EU-NATO) from the region, along with economic interests, has been the main aim of Russia from cooperation and unity with Armenia. In this paper, it has been attempted to examine Russia's interests in unity with Armenia in a descriptive and analytical way, using the balance of threat theory offered by Stephen Walt