If Russia wants to pull its military base out of Armenia, it should say so - Deputy Speaker
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Armenia has not received any request or notification from Russia about plans to withdraw the 102nd Military Base from Armenia, Deputy Speaker of Parliament Vahagn Aleksanyan (Civil Contract) said on Tuesday.
His comments came after Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin said that Moscow had not received a request from Yerevan to withdraw the military base stationed in Gyumri and continued to consider it an important component of the security of Armenia and the South Caucasus.
“As far as I know, neither the Republic of Armenia—the Ministry of Defense or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs—nor, in particular, the parliament has received any such request, notification or communication from the Russian Federation that the Russian Federation intends to withdraw the military base,” Aleksanyan said at a press briefing when a reporter pointed to Galuzin’s comments.
According to him, if the Russian side wants to withdraw the military base, the issue can be discussed.
“If they want to withdraw the military base, we can understand and discuss it. We have not received a request from them either. I do not know whether they will submit one in the near future. If they want to withdraw the military base, they should announce it,” the deputy speaker said.