Speaker: Armenia not considering withdrawal of Russian military base

Armenia is not considering the removal of the Russian military base from the country, National Assembly Speaker Alen Simonyan told a press briefing on Monday.

In response to a journalist's question about whether a provision in the draft peace agreement, which envisages the non-deployment of third-party forces from the border, could also apply to the Russian military presence, Simonyan firmly rejected the notion. He clarified that the clause refers specifically to border areas and does not pertain to the military base located within Armenia.

When asked whether Azerbaijan might demand the absence of any third-party forces along all of Armenia’s borders, Simonyan dismissed the idea as absurd.

“That’s absurd. It’s not being discussed and it cannot be discussed. There’s no such thing. I don’t know who comes up with such ‘clever’ ideas,” he said.