The fact that Russia is doubling the capacities of its military base in Armenia needs to be viewed in the context of the whole Russian army. This is what former defense minister of Armenia Vagharshak Harutyunyan told journalists at the National Assembly today.

He recalled that Russia had raised the issue of reducing the capacities of its military base in Armenia back in 1996. “Armenia’s military-political elite worked to make sure there was no reduction, which was due to the financial situation of the Russian army. The chief of the general staff of the Russian armed forces and I toured the military base, sent a report to Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, General Samsoov, and the military base remained. Besides this, during the war, we told the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation that a battalion of the Russian troops deployed in Armenia had to be transported to Kapan because we felt a danger from Turkey and Nakhichevan, and we transported a battalion there,” he said.

Vagharshak Harutyunyan stated that the Russian army is currently strengthening its military base in Tajikistan, create an expedition corpus, strengthening its nuclear and missile troops, and it’s clear that the army is rearming its troops, which have old weapons.

“We also need to take into consideration the situation in the region, which requires strengthening of the Russian military base,” he emphasized and particularly reminded the resistance to Turkey.