Armenia not considering withrdawal ofRussian military base from  Gyumri 

ArmInfo.  Armenia is not considering the issue of withdrawing the 102nd Russian base from Gyumri. This was stated by the Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Alen Simonyan in a conversation with journalists.

"Armenia is not considering the issue of withdrawing the 102nd  Russian base. There were no such conversations. There is nothing to  say," the politician said, referring to a small protest held in front  of the Russian base in August, organized by Western-oriented NGOs  demanding the withdrawal of Russian troops from Armenia.

Referring to the planned visit of the Armenian Prime Minister to  Russia in September and the possibility of a meeting with Russian  leader Vladimir Putin, Simonyan noted that Nikol Pashinyan would  hardly have gone to Moscow if such a meeting had not been planned. He  noted that official visits cannot do without such a meeting.

The 102nd Russian military base is stationed in Armenia in accordance  with the interstate agreement between Moscow and Yerevan concluded in  1995. The personnel of the base are on combat duty within the  framework of the Joint Air Defense System of the CIS. On August 20,  2010, the Russian Federation and Armenia extended the agreement on  the deployment of the base until 2044. The protocol also provides for  the expansion of its geographic and strategic responsibility. The air  component of the 102nd Russian military base in Gyumri is the Erebuni  air base stationed in Yerevan. The personnel of the air base are on  combat duty for air defense within the Joint Air Defense System of  the CIS states.