Russia attaches importance to relations with both Armenia and Azerbaijan: Peskov

Moscow is interested in peace, stability and security in the Caucasus and will continue to develop relations with Yerevan and Baku. This statement was made by the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov.

"We have good relations with both Azerbaijan and Armenia. We value these relations and intend to do everything to develop them even further," Peskov told reporters.

He emphasized that the South Caucasus is not a distant region for Russia, and Moscow wants there to be predictability and an atmosphere of mutual trust in the Caucasus.

When asked whether Russian President Vladimir Putin had recently had contacts with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Peskov replied that there had been no such contacts in recent days.

 This statement was made by Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, responding to a journalist's question about whether it is possible to consider revising the agreement on the deployment of the Russian military base and reducing Russian border guards from the Armenian-Turkish border as well, as was done on the Armenian-Iranian border and at Zvartnots Airport.

"The Russian border guards were temporarily deployed, they provided services to the Republic of Armenia until the Republic of Armenia is able to form all the necessary institutions and skills with which it will be able to provide these services and missions on its own. At some point, we expressed our gratitude to the Russian border service and said that we can take care of this issue independently at Zvartnots International Airport," Mirzoyan noted.

According to him, at some stage after that, Armenia also assumed full control over the checkpoint operating between Armenia and Iran. According to him, this speaks of the formation of our capabilities on the one hand, and of the high level of trust between Armenia and Iran on the other.

"I can say that if there is a functioning open border between Armenia and Turkey, if there is that same trust between Armenia and Turkey, we can discuss and consider that issue as well," Mirzoyan said.

Recall that the Russian military base is located in Armenia in accordance with the 1995 interstate treaty signed between Moscow and Yerevan. On August 20, 2010, Russia and Armenia extended the term of the treaty until 2044.

The air component of the 102nd military base in Gyumri is the Erebuni Airport in Yerevan, whose personnel perform combat duty in the air defense of the CIS countries' unified air defense system.