Lavrov: Russian military base is an important component of ensuring Armenia's security interests
YEREVAN, May 21. /ARKA/. The Russian military base is an important component of ensuring Armenia's security interests, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
"We are for close contacts on a regular basis between our military, law enforcement agencies and security services. All this should be based on the rich experience that has been developed over the past years," Lavrov said at a joint press conference with RA Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan in Yerevan on Wednesday.
As Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Alen Simonyan recently told journalists, Armenia is not discussing the issue of withdrawing the Russian military base from the territory of the republic.
About the 102nd Russian military base
The 102nd Russian military base has been deployed in the city of Gyumri in the Shirak region of Armenia, which is on combat duty as part of the CIS Joint Air Defense System. The base is subordinate to the Russian Troops Group in Transcaucasia of the North Caucasus Military District of the Russian Federation, and is equipped with the S-300 anti-aircraft missile system and MiG-29 fighters. In 2010, the base's term of operation, as defined by a bilateral interstate agreement of 1995, was extended until 2044.
