Zakhrova: It Seems Simonian Was Not Paying Attention to Pashinyan's Press Conference

It seems that Alen Simonian was not paying close attention to Nikol Pashinyan's press conference, where he spoke about the need to reconsider the presence of Russian troops at the borders with Iran and Turkey. This was stated by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova.

She noted that the basic document regulating the status of the Russian border troops in Armenia is indefinite. “Russian border guards have been monitoring the borders of the Republic of Armenia for more than 30 years and have repeatedly confirmed the necessity of their presence, particularly by preventing illegal border crossings and drug trafficking,” she said, highlighting that the withdrawal of border guards from Armenia would negatively affect the country's security.

Zakharova also mentioned that the President of the National Assembly of Armenia is not competent enough to discuss such issues. According to her, those who “actually guard Armenia's borders, rather than just sitting in soft chairs” should be given a voice on this matter.

When discussing the appropriateness of the presence of Russian border guards at Armenia's borders, one must consider how the “nakedness” of the borders would affect the country's security, she said. She emphasized that there is a large-scale and effective cooperation between the border services of the two countries.

“This, as it appears, irritates certain political figures in Yerevan,” the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry added.