Security Council Secretary: The Armenian side did not raise the issue of withdrawing the 102nd Russian military base stationed in Gyumri

ArmInfo.  The Armenian side did not raise the issue of withdrawing the 102nd Russian military base stationed in Gyumri. Armenia’s Security Council Secretary Alen Simonyan stated this in a conversation with journalists.

"We did not say a word about the 102nd military base. This was a statement from the Russian side. Frankly speaking, I do not understand why they said that. As the prime minister said, if they want to stay, let them stay; if they do not want to, let them leave. When they speak during the negotiations, we will present our position," he said.

At the same time, touching upon a possible increase in the price of Russian gas for Armenia, Simonyan stated that on all possible economic and security issues, Armenia has chosen and will continue to choose alternatives and balance, and that this strategy will continue.

He noted that this would be done with all possible countries, without excluding Azerbaijan.

Asked how correct it would be to get off the Russian "needle" and get on the Azerbaijani one, he noted that one cannot live on a needle.

"Secondly, who said that we are going to replace dependence on one country with dependence on another? We are going to buy gas wherever possible. If Russia supplies gas, we will buy it from Russia; if Azerbaijan supplies it, we will buy it from Azerbaijan; if Iran supplies it, we will buy it from Iran; if Turkey gets the opportunity to supply gas, we will buy it from Turkey as well—and all of this at the same time. And who said that we need to leave one dependence and jump into another?" he concluded.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that Russia was ready to withdraw its troops from Armenia if Yerevan made such a request. Pashinyan later said that Armenia would not object if Moscow itself made the corresponding decision.

The Russian military base has been stationed in Armenia under an interstate treaty dated 1995. In 2010, amendments were made to the document, according to which the period of its stay on the territory of Armenia was extended from the original 25 years to 49 years, until 2044.