Armenia Has Never Raised Issue of Russian 102nd Military Base Withdrawal, Pashinyan Says

YEREVAN — Armenia has never raised the issue of withdrawing Russia’s 102nd Military Base from Gyumri, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said during a question-and-answer session in the National Assembly.

“Since 2018, I have been communicating with the president of the Russian Federation and other high-ranking officials, and I have never, not even once, raised the issue of withdrawing the 102nd Russian military base from Armenia. In general, no representative of Armenia has ever raised such an issue,” Pashinyan said.

The prime minister recalled a recent statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin in Bishkek, in which Putin said that if Armenia no longer considered the Russian military base necessary, Russia was prepared to withdraw it.

“When I returned to Yerevan from Bishkek, the next day I saw that the Russian president had stated that if Armenia wanted the military base withdrawn, Russia would withdraw it,” Pashinyan said.

According to the prime minister, he subsequently responded to Putin’s remarks during a press briefing, reiterating that the Armenian side had never raised the issue of removing the base.

“Armenia has never raised the issue of withdrawing the 102nd Military Base. But if the Russian Federation decides to withdraw the base, Armenia will not object, because the presence of the military base in the Republic of Armenia is not of vital importance to the Republic of Armenia,” Pashinyan said.

“If the Russian Federation wants to maintain the military base, we are prepared to discuss that. That is the entire story and the entire statement—nothing more and nothing less,” he added.

Putin said during a September 2 meeting with reporters in Bishkek that if Armenia believed it no longer needed a Russian military base, Moscow was prepared to withdraw it “even tomorrow.” He added that if Armenia wanted to maintain a Russian military presence, Moscow was prepared to continue its cooperation.