Lavrov: US advises Armenia to expel Russian base and border guards

PanARMENIAN.Net - The United States has "advised" Armenia to no longer host the Russian base and border guards, promising to "ensure security" in return, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

“We have information that they (the United States and its allies – Ed.) [tell Armenians] ‘come to us, drive the Russians out of your territory, and the border guards too, remove the military base, the Americans will help ensure security’. [This is a] Blatant provocation. This is not diplomacy either... There is no more diplomacy. There is direct bribery,” Lavrov said in an interview with the Tsargrad TV channel.

He also added that the United States often abandons its allies. “We see how the West behaves with those on whom it has placed some sort of bet in the past. They abandoned Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who at the beginning of the Arab Spring resigned with dignity, did not run away... The United States abandoned the Afghan leadership, which they relied on during the twenty-year occupation of this country," Lavrov said.

The 102nd Russian military base is deployed on the territory of Armenia. The air force of the 102nd Russian military base in Gyumri is stationed at the Erebuni airbase in Yerevan.