The Signed Document Did Not Concern the Withdrawal of Troops in Syunik: Secretary of the Security Council

Armen Grigoryan, the Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia, stated in an interview with Public Television that the document signed in December last year between the defense ministers of Russia and Armenia did not pertain to the decisions regarding the withdrawal of Armenian troops by several kilometers in the Syunik direction.

On December 20, during a press conference held in the National Assembly, opposition lawmakers Gegham Manukyan and Anna Grigoryan disclosed that they received contradictory responses to their inquiries addressed to various agencies regarding the order to withdraw Armenian troops and the circumstances surrounding it. In response to Manukyan's inquiry regarding the then-Minister of Defense Arshak Karapetyan, the minister stated that this matter falls outside the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defense. However, Chief of the General Staff Artak Davtyan answered a similar inquiry from Manukyan by stating that the troop withdrawal occurred under a document signed by the defense ministers of Armenia and Russia in December 2020.

Manukyan indicated that he could not fully disclose the document due to the established confidentiality regime. Later, in response to another similar inquiry, Acting Minister of Defense Suren Papikyan informed the lawmaker that there exists a signed document between the defense ministries of Armenia and Russia, but, due to confidentiality reasons, it could not be published.

Responding to the statements and presented facts mentioned by opposition lawmakers, Armen Grigoryan insists that there is nothing new and that the government has not concealed anything. “We have talked publicly about almost all processes that occurred after November 9, the Prime Minister has explained why decisions were made to withdraw troops. The document is about something entirely different, and I am surprised that the opposition has made a revelation a year later. The document was about Armenia continuing to use that road until an alternative road is available. In November, the construction of the alternative road was completed in Armenia, and Azerbaijan announced that it would place customs posts on the Goris-Kapan road. We have discussed this, and it is surprising that the opposition is making revelations about known facts,” said the Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia.