YEREVAN. – The Armenian-Russian joint military unit operates since the 1990s, but the parties decided to speak about it to restrain opponents.

Russian military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer told the aforesaid to 168 Zham (Hour) newspaper of Armenia, reflecting on the agreement which the National Assembly of Armenia ratified, and with respect to forming a joint military unit with Russia.

“According to him, the conversations about this military unit appeared in circulation at no accidental time. He recalled that the bases for these conversations were laid during the Russian-Turkish tension.

“According to the analyst, this means that the Russian side has concerns that, during tension, there may be provocations against Russia from this side. So, the mission of this military detachment will be to oversee this direction and have a restraining role.

“But he also noted that the Russian efforts to maintain the balance of power in the NK [Nagorno-Karabakh] conflict are ineffective,” wrote 168 Zham.