Leonid Reshetnikov: The task of the Russian 102nd military base is the security of the South Caucasus

Speaking with Alpha News, retired Lieutenant General Leonid Reshetnikov commented on the statement of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that the Russian 102nd military base on the territory of Armenia is a key to ensuring peace in this region.

According to the expert, if the Russian 102nd military base leaves Armenia, everything in this region will collapse completely.

“The task of the Russian 102nd military base is the security of the South Caucasus as well as the preservation of our and Armenian interests in this region. We must not forget that, after all, Armenia’s main neighbor is a NATO country, and despite all its attempts to be independent, it remains a NATO country. And we are still at war in Ukraine, not only with Ukraine but also with NATO. This is a very important issue for both Russia and Armenia, since there is a guarantee that a NATO country will not violate its sovereignty. Armenia does not yet have any independence, so the base should remain either way. Besides, other internal South Caucasian conflicts must still be contained somehow. If we leave completely and remove the base, I think that everything will collapse completely because the balance of power today is very fragile, especially after the defeat of Karabakh,” he said.

As for the prospects for Armenia’s cooperation with NATO, according to Reshetnikov, in this situation in which Armenia now finds itself, it simply will not be accepted into this organization.

“Armenia will not be accepted into NATO now. They do not accept Ukraine. How can they accept Armenia when the conflict with Azerbaijan persists? When there is a Russian base on the territory of Armenia, what prospects for cooperation can we talk about? Even if there is no Russian 102nd military base, I think that they do not need Armenia. NATO does not need problems. It already has plenty of them, so it refuses Ukraine, even though it helps it,” the retired lieutenant general concluded.