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Putin Faces Protests As He Woos Armenia

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  • Putin Faces Protests As He Woos Armenia

    PUTIN FACES PROTESTS AS HE WOOS ARMENIA

    Reuters
    Dec 2 2013

    YEREVAN Mon Dec 2, 2013 8:33am EST

    (Reuters) - About 500 people marched through the capital of Armenia on
    Monday to denounce visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin and to
    protest against plans to join a Moscow-led customs union.

    Some of the crowd in central Yerevan held banners declaring "Putin,
    go home" or "No to the USSR", a reference to the Russian leader's
    efforts to bind former Soviet republics together more closely in
    economic and security alliances.

    Putin flew to the South Caucasus country for talks on its decision
    in September to join the Customs Union with Russia, Belarus and
    Kazakhstan, but began his visit in another city, Gyumri. He was due
    in Yerevan later on Monday.

    The rally in Yerevan followed much larger protests in Ukraine, which
    suspended plans to sign a trade deal with the European Union last
    week and decided to rebuild economic ties with Russia instead.

    Kremlin critics in the West accuse Putin of putting pressure on
    Ukraine, Armenia and other former Soviet republics to reject agreements
    that would increase their integration with the EU.

    Putin has made clear Moscow wants to increase its influence in the
    strategic region sandwiched between Russia, Turkey, Iran and the oil
    and gas deposits of the Caspian Sea basin.

    "We are going to strengthen our position in the South Caucasus,
    drawing on the best of what we have inherited from ancestors and
    good relations with all countries in the region," Putin told a
    Russian-Armenian regional forum in Gyumri.

    "Participation in the Customs Union ... already is bringing Russia,
    Kazakhstan and Belarus tangible dividends," he said.

    Police blocked a central street as the demonstrators headed closer
    to the headquarters of President Serzh Sarksyan's administration,
    and protesters handed over a letter urging the government to renounce
    its decision to join the customs union.

    Russia is the biggest foreign investor in Armenia and its largest
    trading partner. Bilateral trade grew 22 percent to $1.2 billion last
    year. Most trade has been imports to Armenia.

    Three years ago Russia extended its lease on a military base in the
    landlocked, resource-poor nation of 3.2 million until 2044, ensuring
    it maintains a firm foothold in the South Caucasus.

    The region also includes Azerbaijan, which has been embroiled in
    a territorial dispute with Armenia since the Soviet collapse, and
    Georgia, with which Russia fought a five-day war in 2008.

    (Reporting by Hasmik Mrktchyan and Alexei Anishchuk; Writing by Steve
    Gutterman and Alissa de Carbonnel; Editing by Timothy Heritage)

    http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/02/us-armenia-russia-idUSBRE9B10FM20131202

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