Galuzin says Armenia has made no request to withdraw base from Gyumri

Russia has not received any request from Armenia to withdraw the Russian military base from Gyumri and continues to view it as an important element of security for the republic and the South Caucasus. This was stated to Izvestia by Mikhail Galuzin, deputy foreign minister of Russia.

“We have not received any requests from the Armenian side regarding the withdrawal of the Russian military base stationed in Gyumri. We continue to proceed from the premise that it is an important element of the security architecture of Armenia and the South Caucasus,” the diplomat said.

According to Galuzin, the issue of Russia’s military presence is currently being actively discussed in Armenia’s social and political sphere, but Moscow does not yet see a real alternative to it.

“Many people quite fairly ask: what is the alternative? In our view, none is visible today. Frankly speaking, it’s hard to imagine, say, French soldiers in that role, if only because of France’s geographic distance from Armenia,” the deputy foreign minister noted.

At the same time, Russia is ready to discuss continued cooperation with Armenia in the sphere of defense and security, including as part of the “inventory” of bilateral relations proposed by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Galuzin added.