News - Armenia ruling force MP: Russians were needed to be stationed in Syunik in 2021, legal matters are being studied

You have probably forgotten that there was a 44-day war in 2020. After that, the [Russian] peacekeeping troops were brought into the territory of Artsakh [(Nagorno-Karabakh)]. After that, certain Russian contingents moved to Syunik Province [of Armenia] to resolve security issues. Armen Khachatryan, an MP of the ruling majority Civil Contract Faction, told this to reporters Thursday in the National Assembly (NA) of Armenia—and addressing the question of how it turned out that Russian border guards are standing in Nerkin Hand village of Syunik Province, regarding which, according to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, there is neither a contract nor a mandate. "Depending on the situation, yes, so it happened. But now a study is being conducted to answer all the legal matters: Who has what mandate? And where? They are representatives of the border troops of Russia. Due to the situation in 2021, they were deployed there just to resolve security problems. It was needed then. There was a deployment in [Armenia’s] Goris [city] also, which was supposed to ensure the safety of the Artsakh peacekeeping force," the majority faction lawmaker noted. According to him, the aforementioned studies will be carried out jointly with the Ministry of Defense, National Security Service, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia. "All legal matters will be studied: Who has what obligation and where it can be? And where does it all end?" said Khachatryan. During the recent NA-government question-and-answer session, opposition MP Anna Grigoryan had asked with what mandate the Russian border guards were standing in Nerkin Hand village. And in response, Armenian PM Pashinyan had stated that there was no mandate or contract for the Russian border guards’ presence there.