Rubinyan: Russia leaving South Caucasus on its own

YEREVAN, December 12. /ARKA/. The authorities of Armenia do not seek to expel Russia from the South Caucasus; Russia is leaving the region on its own, said Ruben Rubinyan, Deputy speaker of the National Assembly.

He noted that the Armenian opposition's claims that the Armenian authorities want Russia to leave and be replaced by Turkey are false and do not reflect the reality.

"Facts show that Russia is leaving. It was certainly not the Armenian authorities who expelled the Russian peacekeepers stationed in Nagorno-Karabakh, who were supposed to remain there for at least a few more years under the tripartite agreement," Rubinyan said in an interview with Armenian Public Television.

In his opinion, drawing parallels with the events in Syria, as the current opposition does, is not appropriate in the case of Armenia.

"These are their latest absurd accusations. Not to mention that the comparison between the contexts of Syria and the South Caucasus is completely inappropriate," the Deputy speaker of the National Assembly emphasized.

As stated by Mikhail Galuzin, Deputy Head of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at the end of November, Moscow remains committed to the full range of agreements with Yerevan and does not renounce its obligations to its allies, including in the military-political sphere. He also mentioned the Russian efforts to transform the “3+3” platform (Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, plus Russia, Iran, and Turkey) into a fully-fledged organization for cooperation in the South Caucasus.