Putin faces protests on Armenia visit

Russian strongman Vladimir Putin on Monday pledged to maintain the Kremlin's influence in the South Caucasus on a trip to Armenia as hundreds of demonstrators protested a decision to join a Moscow-led customs union. "Russia is not preparing to leave the South Causcasus. On the contrary, we intend to strengthen our presence here," Putin said in televised remarks from the town of Gyumri, where he was expected to visit a Russian military base. Around 1,000 people opposed to Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian's decision to spurn an improved relationship with the European Union in favor of closer Kremlin ties earlier Monday marched through the capital Yerevan. They carried banners reading "Putin go home" and waved Armenian flags, an Agence France Presse reporter saw. A heavy deployment of police blocked the march and several small scuffles broke out between demonstrators and security officials. The protest in Armenia comes amid ongoing demonstrations in Ukraine where some 100,000 people on Sunday took to the streets protesting President Viktor Yanukovych's decision to drop plans to sign a key deal with the EU. Several thousand protesters in Kiev blockaded government buildings Monday and declared a general strike. Putin is set to hold face-to-face talks with Sarkisian later Monday. In September, Sarkisian unexpectedly announced that he had decided Armenia would join the Customs Union that already includes the ex-Soviet states of Belarus and Kazakhstan. The shock move scuppered plans for Armenia to initial an association and free trade agreement with the EU at a November summit in Vilnius after years of negotiation. Critics accused Russia of pressuring the tiny Caucasus nation to drop its EU aspirations by hiking gas prices and inking major arms deals with Armenia's arch-foe Azerbaijan. Armenia relies heavily on Russia for weaponry that it sees as key to maintaining a balance with oil-rich Azerbaijan in their festering conflict over the disputed Nagorny Karabakh region. According to Putin's vision, the Russian-led Customs Union is the foundation of a future Eurasian economic union with its own executive body and a single currency.