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Withdrawal of Russian border guards unlikely to enhance Armenia’s security — diplomat

Maria Zakharova pointed out that Armenia had made the aforementioned statement amid a series of unfriendly steps

MOSCOW, March 13. /TASS/. Yerevan’s statements about Russian border guards stationed at Zvartnots International Airport and the termination of their service will not contribute to Armenia’s security, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing.

"We believe that all decisions will be made based on inter-agency consultations. We would like to point out, in a preliminary manner, that Armenia made the aforementioned statement amid a series of unfriendly steps. Such an initiative is hardly in line with the security interests of Armenia and its citizens, particularly given the missions that Russian and Armenian border guards have been effectively performing for many years," she noted.

The diplomat added that Armenia had sent the relevant notification "through an inter-agency channel." "We received nothing through diplomatic channels," Zakharova stressed.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced at a press conference earlier that the country’s border forces had sent a letter to Russian border troops, informing them that Armenian border guards were skilled enough to serve the Yerevan airport on their own. The letter said that Russian border guards would stop serving the airport on August 1, 2024.