Russian peacekeepers in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Source: Stanislav Krasilnikov/TASS
Two new strongholds of the 102nd Russian military base in the Syunik region, bordering on Azerbaijan and Iran, in the south of Armenia. The announcement was made by Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan on May 3.
“This is an additional security guarantee not only for the Syunik region but for Armenia,” Pashinyan was quoted as saying.
“The external security system of Armenia was not changed either before the war or after it. And this system was based primarily on the Armenian-Russian joint units and the United Regional Air Defense System in the Caucasus region, ” Nikol Pashinyan said.
Syunik is a strategic strip of Armenia located between Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani region of Nakhchivan, and Iran.
Syunik region. Source: wikipedia
Currently, a Russian peacekeeping contingent is operating in Nagorno-Karabakh. It was introduced there, following the hostilities between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces ceased in Karabakh on November 10, 2020. The Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh counts 1,960 servicemen of the 15th separate motorized rifle brigade of the Central Military District.
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Armenia is Russia’s ally in the CSTO. The first war in Nagorno-Karabakh, which officially ended in 1994, strengthened Armenia’s ties with its main ally, Russia, which ensured the country’s security. Yerevan concluded a number of international agreements, including with Moscow, which primarily affected the military sphere:
- Armenia received two targeted loans in the amount of 200 and 100 million dollars with a minimum interest rate (3% per year) for the purchase of modern weapons at domestic Russian prices, which is 3-5 times cheaper than prices on world markets;
- Russia has provided Armenia with the Iskander mobile short-range ballistic missile systems;
- Russia and Armenia signed agreements on the creation of a joint air defense system and a common group of troops;
- joint Russian-Armenian defense production based on modern technologies was developed in Gyumri;
- the countries closely interacted in the field of strategic intelligence;
- Armenia has agreed to maintain the 102nd Russian military base in Gyumri, four guards of the Border Troops Department of the FSB of Russia and the Russian Air Force base “Erebuni” in Yerevan.
Time flies, but Russia remains the main strategic partner of Yerevan, and the only one that can provide necessary military support despite unfriendly policy of Armenian leadership.
But wait, if 100 years ago, the Bolsheviks gave away the two areas surrounding it in a treaty, signed for a period of 100 years exactly, shouldn’t it go back already? Maybe an offensive is coming..
Better to have it and not need it than not have it when needed…
Russia will cease to be a state in a decade, and these are Persian and Turkish historical lands. The US and NATO need to focus on the liberation of Russia and a profitable carve up.
I think you’re talking about the United States, which is no longer a state. It is just a bankrupt corporation, where over half of the population lives in poverty