Izvestia: Armenia will not be able to unilaterally abandon the Russian base until 2044

Armenia will not be able to unilaterally abandon the Russian 102nd military base, located in Gyumri, until 2044, the Russian newspaper Izvestia reported after studying the 1995 agreement between Russia and Armenia on the Russian military base.

Thus, Article 27 of the relevant document states: “If one of the parties declares its intention to terminate this agreement, issues related to the liquidation of the Russian military base are resolved by a joint commission. The liquidation of the Russian military base must be completed within the time agreed between the parties.”

According to Protocol No. 5 to the agreement on the Russian base signed in 2010 by the Presidents of Russia and Armenia, Dmitry Medvedev and Serzh Sargsyan, the term of the stay of the Russian base on the territory of Armenia has been extended until 2044.

This information was confirmed to Izvestia by the Deputy Chair of the Defense Committee of the Russian State Duma, Yuri Shvytkin.

“The agreement concluded between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Armenia is automatically extended for a further five-year period after its expiration, unless one of the parties notifies the other party in written form of its intention to terminate it at least six months before the expiration of the next term of the agreement. The provisions of this agreement may be revised at the initiative of one of the parties and by mutual agreement,” Shvytkin told Izvestia.

As reported earlier, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that Yerevan “sees no advantages” from the presence of a Russian military base on the territory of Armenia, but at the same time he stressed that Moscow and Yerevan do not discuss this matter.