Armenia says no reason left for keeping Russian military base
- 27 October, 02:58
The relations between Russia and its historical ally Armenia continue to spiral down amid a series of political spats between Moscow and Yerevan. In the latest of such political rows, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said there was no advantage for Armenia to host Russian military bases in its territory any more after Azerbaijan retook the Nagorno-Karabakh region last month.
Baku regained full control of the region – internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but run by ethnic Armenian separatists since the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s – after a lightning military victory in September.
In an interview with Wall Street Journal newspaper on October 25, Pashinyan said these events “have essentially brought us to a decision that we need to diversify our relationships in the security sphere, and we are trying to do that now.”
Later on the same day, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russian authorities were unaware of Nikol Pashinyan's comments.
"We don't yet know if he said those words, and if he did, where, in what context. We don't have such information," Interfax news agency quoted Peskov as saying.
Armenia hosts a Russian airbase in Gyumri and a border guard contingent containing detachments stationed in Gyumri, Meghri, Armavir and Artashat. Russia has long seen itself as the guarantor of the South Caucasus republic’s security.
Following Azerbaijan’s victory over Armenia in the war in 2020, the relations between the two allies have deteriorated, with Yerevan accusing the Kremlin of failing to protect Armenia’s security.
