MOSCOW, July 26. /TASS/. Armenia has no intention of abandoning the presence of Russian border guards along the Armenian-Turkish border, because control over it would be a heavy burden for the country, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told the Ekho Moskvy (the Echo of Moscow) radio station.

"Russian border guards protect the border between Turkey and Armenia. That’s very important for Armenia, because our armed forces have actually been free from this obligation. It would be a heavy burden for us to shoulder all the responsibility for protecting this long border," he said, adding that Russian border guards protect the Armenian-Iranian border as well.

Speaking about Russia’s 102nd military base, the prime minister noted that it was an important part of Armenia’s security system, so Yerevan has no plans to close it. "The existence of Russia’s 102nd military base meets Armenia’s national interests," he stressed.

The system to protect Armenia’s state border with Turkey (345 kilometers) and Iran (45 kilometers) has been fully preserved since the Soviet era. The interstate agreement on the status of the Russian border troops in Armenia signed in Yerevan on September 30, 1992, is the basis for Russian border guards’ stay in that country.

The Russian military base is located in Armenia in accordance with the interstate agreement signed in 1995. The document was amended in 2010. According to these amendments, the period for the Russian border guards’ stay in Armenia was extended from 25 to 49 years (until 2044).