We don`t believe the presence of the 102nd military base in Armenia is vitally important – Pashinyan

ArmInfo. We do not believe that the presence of the 102nd military base in Armenia is vitally important. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated this during a briefing on September 3.

If Russia decides to withdraw the base from Armenia, we will not object, but if they wish to stay, we are ready to discuss that, too," he said, noting that this issue was not discussed with the Russian leader during their recent meeting in Bishkek.

In particular, the prime minister noted that as a result of discussions with the Russian president, an agreement was reached to take stock of Armenian-Russian relations in order to understand in practice which issues the two sides agree on and where they differ. Pashinyan also said that the railway was one of the topics of discussion. "We agreed that the current situation cannot last long and we must find solutions," the head of government noted.

As a reminder, days earlier, in a conversation with journalists following the SCO summit and a series of bilateral talks in Bishkek, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated his readiness to withdraw the 102nd Russian base stationed in Gyumri "even tomorrow."

"If Armenia believes that Armenia doesn't need a Russian military base, we will leave even tomorrow. Is Armenia ready for this? Please, we won't impose anything on anyone. And if the Armenian people want some kind of military 'Russian wing' there, then..." "We will remain close, we will work, we will cooperate," he said.

It should be noted that the Russian military base is stationed in Armenia in accordance with an interstate agreement from 1995. In 2010, the document was amended, extending its stay in Armenia from the original 25 years to 49 years, until 2044.