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Two Russia-related accusations before 3 September 2020
Summary
Late-August reports linked Moscow to a French espionage case and to Azerbaijani claims of arms deliveries to Armenia.
What had been reported about Russia's relations with France and Azerbaijan by 3 September 2020? Two items from the final days of August stood out.
On 30 August 2020, French Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly revealed that a lieutenant-colonel of the army, stationed at a NATO base in Italy, had been arrested and indicted on charges of espionage on behalf of another government. He was reported to have supplied "sensitive" documents to an officer of the GRU, a Russian military intelligence agency.
A day earlier, on 29 August 2020, a senior advisor to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev accused Russia of arming Armenia since the start of the recent border clashes.
The two reports concerned different countries and different allegations: one an espionage indictment in France, the other a claim about arms supplies in the South Caucasus. Both, as reported at the time, placed Russia at the centre of the accusations.
