Moscow
Russia has agreed to withdraw some of its troops and border guards from Armenia, the Kremlin announced Thursday, following months of heightened tensions between the two former Soviet allies.
Moscow's traditional partner Yerevan has recently distanced itself publicly, angered by the failure of Russian peacekeepers to intervene during Azerbaijan's offensive to retake the Nagorno-Karabakh region last year.
Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Moscow on Wednesday night, where the two leaders agreed to withdraw some Russian troops, Russian state media reported Thursday, citing the Kremlin. agreed.
“In the fall of 2020, at the request of the Armenian side, our troops and border guards were stationed in many areas,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
“Mr. Pashinyan said that due to the change in conditions, there is no longer such a request. President Putin also agreed, and the withdrawal of our troops and border guards was agreed.”
Russian security forces will remain in Turkiye, Armenia and on the border with Iran, he added.
Armenia had previously asked Russian border guards to withdraw from Yerevan's Zvartnots International Airport.
Haik Konjorian, head of Pashinyan's ruling party in the Armenian parliament, said on Thursday that the agreement concerns Russian troops and border observation posts set up in five regions of Armenia after the six-week war with Azerbaijan in 2020. Ta.
The agreement does not appear to affect Russia's main military base in the Armenian city of Gyumri, where about 3,000 soldiers are stationed.
The two countries have a military alliance through the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a mutual defense pact, but Yerevan said he had effectively suspended participation amid bilateral tensions.
Armenia also joined the International Criminal Court (ICC) earlier this year, under an ICC warrant issued to the Russian leader on suspicion of war crimes. It is mandatory to make an arrest.