YEREVAN — Russia will withdraw its troops and border guards from Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan, it was announced on Thursday hours after Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Russia first sent them to Armenia’s southeastern Syunik province during and after the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh. The move requested by Pashinyan’s government was aimed at helping the Armenian military defend the strategic region against possible Azerbaijani attacks. Russian military personnel were subsequently deployed to four other Armenian provinces bordering Azerbaijan that included Tavush, Vayots Dzor, Gegharkunik, Ararat.

Hayk Konjoryan, the parliamentary leader of Armenia’s ruling Civil Contract party, said all of them will be withdrawn from the border areas under a Russian-Armenian agreement reached “at the highest level.” In a Facebook post, he said the agreement also confirmed the impending removal of a small number of Russian border guards from Yerevan’s Zvartnots international airport.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Putin and Pashinyan reached such an agreement when they met in Moscow on Wednesday night to discuss unprecedented tensions between their nations.

“In the fall of 2020, at the request of the Armenian side, our military and border guards were deployed in a number of Armenian regions,” Peskov told Russian news agencies. “Pashinian said that there is no such need anymore due to the changed conditions. President Putin therefore agreed, and the withdrawal of our military and border guards was agreed.”

Citing another “request of the Armenian side,” Peskov also said that Russian border guards will remain stationed along Armenia’s borders with Turkey and Iran.

Pashinyan announced on March 12 that his government has given Moscow until August 1 to withdraw the border guards from Zvartnots. Armenia, he said, has the capacity to “carry out border controls at the airport without the help of the Russian side.”

Russia also has a military base in Armenia’s second largest city, Gyumri.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sign Up for Our Newsletters

Get notified of the latest updates from MassisPost.

You May Also Like

Death Threats Against Germany Green Party Leader Cem Özdemir

BERLIN — The leader of Germany’s Green Party, Cem Ozdemir, is under…

\’The First Refuge and the Last Defense: The Armenian Church, Etchmiadzin, and The Armenian Genocide\’

Major Exhibit Issued by ANI, AGMA, and Assembly Available Online WASHINGTON, DC…

Armenia Marks 107th Anniversary of the Genocide

YEREVAN — Tens of thousands of people marched to the Tsitsernakabert memorial…

USC Institute of Armenian Studies Brings the Studio to LA in a Mobile Truck

LOS ANGELES — With a mobile studio in a retrofitted food truck,…