ArmInfo.Russian border guards remained at the borders of Iran and Turkiye at the request of the Armenian side. Former commander of the Armed Forces of Artsakh Samvel Babayan made a similar statement on the air of "A1+".
"Since 2012-13, they (Russia) have written 2-3 times that Russian border guards do not want to guard (the border), if Armenians want to, let them take and guard it (the Armenian-Turkish and Armenian-Iranian border). I have stated this several times. We are not able to do so because there are few financial and human resources, it is necessary to keep professionals, and a professional requires a high salary," he said. "Even today the Russians ask you to guard (the border), ), and it's been like that for a long time. If the authorities don't voice this... Our security service, which is responsible for this part, has been receiving letters from Russia since 2012," added Babayan.
At the same time, according to him, Russian border guards left the territory of the Zvartnots airport at the request of Yerevan, but they left the Armenian-Azerbaijani border precisely at the request of Baku. According to Babayan, after the exodus of Armenians from Artsakh, both the Russian peacekeeping contingent and the border guards had to leave not only Artsakh, but also Armenia. According to Babayan, by remaining a few more months in Artsakh, they "became complicit in everything that happened next."
As for the 102nd Russian military base, as Babayan emphasized, it is deployed on the territory of Armenia in accordance with the agreement (dated March 16, 1995, the Russian Federation and the Republic of Armenia extended the validity of the agreement on the deployment of the base until 2044 on August 20, 2010, ed. note) and has nothing to do with these conversations. "They say (the Russian Federation), if you want, we can leave slowly," he noted, adding that Moscow is not afraid of losing influence in the region, "since it has already lost it and will try to maintain its influence in another way."
"It is not easy for Moscow, after losing its influence on Georgia and Azerbaijan, to maintain its influence in Armenia - the Karabakh war is evidence of this - Russia today is not ready to go into confrontation for the sake of these territories, is not ready to open a second front with Turkey, which already today has complete influence on the Caucasus and Central Asia," he said.
Addressing , Babayan said: "Let them cancel the 12 billion debt of Armenia (the RA public debt), and for the $800 million that RA pays annually in the form of interest, establish border troops that will defend the entire perimeter of the republic's border," said Samvel Babayan.
He noted that immediately after the "Rose Revolution" in Georgia, Western countries paid off the country's debt of $15 billion. "And if they really want Armenia to become a sovereign country, so that the issue of Russian border guards in Armenia is removed from the agenda once and for all, let them will pay off this debt," the ex-commander summarized.
After negotiations between the leaders of Armenia and Russia in Moscow on May 8, the head of the parliamentary faction of the ruling Civil Contract party, Hayk Konjorian, said that Russian border guards would leave the Gegharkunik, Syunik, Tavush, Ararat and Vayots Dzor regions, where they were after the 44-day war, at the initiative of the Armenian government, as well as the Zvartnots airport." After this, on May 10, spkesperson of the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, confirmed that the process of withdrawal of Russian troops and border guards from a number of regions of Armenia was agreed upon on May 8 in Moscow during a meeting of the heads of Armenia and Russia. He added that at the request of Yerevan, Russian border guards will continue to serve on the Armenian-Turkish and Armenian-Iranian borders. However, Secretary of the RA Security Council Armen Grigoryan refuted Peskov's statement, noting: "We suggested that the Russian side leave three points (the airport, 17 points in Tavush, bases in Syunik), because their deployment was a result of verbal agreements.They agreed, after which they asked if we wanted them to also leave the Armenia-Iran and Armenia-Turkey borders. We replied that the deployment of Russian border guards at these points is negotiable; at the moment we are not discussing this issue," said Armen Grigoryan.
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