Armenia moves to expel Russian border guards from Yerevan’s airport

The blunt goodbye comes amid a serious deterioration in relations between Yerevan and Moscow.

Two weeks ago, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced the country would suspend its membership in the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization, a military alliance of former Soviet countries. Armenia blamed Russia for failing to ensure its security during Azerbaijan’s lightning military assault against Nagorno-Karabakh in September 2023.

The current discussion only concerns the removal of Russian border guards from the airport; those stationed at the Turkish and Iranian borders are not affected.

Armenia’s Security Council secretary, Armen Grigoryan, said Wednesday that an official letter was sent to Russia about the border guards being ejected, but Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov disputed this. 

“As far as we understand,” Peskov said, “there have been no decisions made in this regard. No such decisions have been communicated to us through official channels.” The Russian embassy in Yerevan did not immediately respond to a request for comment from POLITICO.

The push to remove Russians from the airport follows accusations by Armenian NGOs that Russian border guards misused their access to the Border Electronic Management System to facilitate a kidnapping.