Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan explained how Yerevan informed Moscow about the matter of the Russian border guards at Zvartnots International Airport of the Armenian capital city of Yerevan.

At Thursday’s press conference, the FM confirmed the statement by the secretary of the Council of Armenia regarding the aforementioned matter, and stated that the Russian side was informed about the initiative to remove the Russian border guards from Zvartnots airport.

According to Mirzoyan, at the beginning it was planned that the Russian border guards’ presence at a number of border checkpoints of Armenia, including Zvartnots airport, was thought of as support for independent Armenia, and it was planned that they would be present as long as Armenia needs them, and when it will have its own institutional capabilities, it will start performing those functions.

"Now we believe that Armenia is institutionally capable of independently implementing border guard service at the [Yerevan] airport, about which we have informed the Russian side. I believe that this will be enough for the Russian side and the matter will be over," Mirzoyan noted, adding that it is about the entire package of jurisdiction at the airport.

"The Armenian side has informed [the Russian side] that it does not need [anymore] the border guard service of Russian border guards at the airport; of course, thanking the Russian side," Mirzoyan informed, adding that the respective notification was delivered through the relevant service, and therefore he did not go into technical details.

To the question about the presence of Russian border guards in other places in Armenia, for example on the Turkish border, the minister responded that the matter is only about Zvartnots airport.

"Therefore, we are talking only about the airport," added the Armenian FM.