Russia Believes Peace Treaty Will Affect Its Presence in Armenia: Arsenyan

Gurgen Arsenyan has commented on the prospects of signing a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan and Russia's possible attitude towards it. According to him, Russia has its own geopolitical interests in the process of signing the Peace Treaty. He stated this during a conversation with journalists, discussing the Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiation formats and platforms.

He recalled that there are several key agreements in place between Armenia and Russia that solidify their strategic relations, including the presence of a Russian base in Armenia and the existence of a joint air defense system, among others. “Against this backdrop, Russia views the potential peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan as a document that will in some way also address future questions regarding Russian presence in Armenia,” he said.

The MP considers this a completely natural and understandable phenomenon and assures that Armenia does not contest Russia's stance. “Whether our partner will have a presentation of its desires in these discussions to be included in the treaty is a technical question that will be at the center of Armenian discussions. Azerbaijan also includes Turkey's desires in its position. Turkey is not directly participating in the negotiations, but, in my opinion, its desires are expressed in the text that Azerbaijan offers us,” the MP added.

At this moment, Arsenyan finds it difficult to respond whether Russia is behaving the same way or not, but he assures that if such a situation arises, the Armenian side will present its position during the discussions.