Pashinyan says Armenia does not need Russian military base
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Nikol Pashinyan (Photo: Sputnik/Alexander Miridonov/Pool via REUTERS)
Armenia
does not need the Russian military base located on its territory, Prime
Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a press briefing on Sept. 17, as reported by
local outlet News.am.
Pashinyan attributed the position to the “events of September 2022,” when Yerevan sought military assistance from the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) amid an armed conflict with Azerbaijan but did not receive it.
“We do not need this military base,” the PM said.
“Russia is our friendly country. If it wants to remove it, let it remove it — let it remove it tomorrow. If it wants to stay, we are ready to discuss the conditions for maintaining a base that we do not need.”
Pashinyan also said Armenia could be expelled from the CSTO if the organization’s other members decided to do so.
Units of Russia’s 102nd Military Base are stationed in Gyumri and Yerevan. Russia and Armenia initially signed an agreement allowing the base to operate for 25 years. In 2010, Moscow and Yerevan officially extended the agreement until 2044.
On Aug. 27, Pashinyan said Armenia had grounds to no longer consider Russia a strategic partner.
“After the events of September 2022 — Azerbaijan’s seizure
of territory near the Armenian city of Jermuk — it is difficult to speak of a
strategic partnership,” Pashinyan said at the time.
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