Pashinyan said that he does not see any advantages in the presence of the Russian military in Armenia

Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan does not see the advantages of having Russian military bases on the territory of his country, he talks about this told the Wall Street Journal.

Pashinyan noted that Armenia, connected to Russia by a military and economic union, is looking for new partners. The Prime Minister believes that Moscow did not fulfill its “allied obligations” during the capture of Nagorno-Karabakh by Azerbaijan.

“These events essentially led us to the decision that we need to diversify our security relationships, and we are trying to do that now,” Pashinyan says.

He also clarified that he does not see any advantages in the continued presence of Russian military bases in Armenia.

In 1992, under an agreement between Russia and Armenia, the 102nd military base was created on the basis of the 127th motorized rifle division of the Transcaucasian Military District of the Soviet Army. The base’s military personnel are located in the city of Gyumri and Yerevan, as well as at the jointly used Erebuni airfield near the capital of the republic. In August 2010, the agreement on this base was extended until 2044.

On September 19-20, Azerbaijan carried out “anti-terrorist measures” in Nagorno-Karabakh. On September 28, the president of the unrecognized republic, Samvel Shahramanyan, signed a decree on the termination of its existence from January 1, 2024 and the dissolution of all government institutions and organizations.

A peacekeeping contingent is stationed in Nagorno-Karabakh, which, according to the agreement, will remain in the region until November 2025. Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasizedthat the mandate of Russian peacekeepers is limited to monitoring the ceasefire. He added that the future of this mission will be determined as part of the negotiation process.