Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said today that “we do not need the Russian military base.”
“If they want to withdraw, let them withdraw as early as tomorrow; if they want to stay, we are ready to discuss the terms for the continued presence in Armenia of a base that is not essential to us,” he said at a briefing following the Cabinet meeting.
Pashinyan noted that the Russian 102nd military base “adds nothing to Armenia’s security:”
“Armenia has never raised the issue of withdrawing the Russian military base. Now, the Russian side is raising that issue. We are positioning ourselves based on that logic.”
“If Armenia believes it doesn’t need a Russian military base, we’ll leave even tomorrow. Is Armenia ready for that? We certainly won’t force anything on anyone. But if the Armenian people want some kind of Russian military ‘presence’ nearby, we’ll stay, we’ll work, and we’ll cooperate.”
Nikol Pashinyan responded on September 3:
“It’s not that we consider the presence of the 102nd military base in Armenia to be a vital necessity. If Russia decides to withdraw the military base from Armenia, we will not object, but if they express a desire to stay here, we will discuss that too. But we have never raised that issue during this time”.
