By signing an Armenian-Russian agreement on joint armed force Armenia will not face any sovereignty-related problems, political scientist Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan told Tert.am.

In fact, the armed force has operated for a long period, and the new agreement will give new impetus to bilateral cooperation.
“I think by signing the agreement Armenia attempts to tighten its supervision of the Russian military base in Armenia. I think there was a need to resolve technical problems by means of such an agreement. We find ourselves in some controversial situations involving the military base, and the Armenian side cannot be properly involved in the process,” Mr Melik-Shahnazaryan said.

The agreement will not cause any problems to Armenia’s sovereignty unless any border tension occurs. Nor any problems are expected in terms of aid to Nagorno-Karabakh.

“Given the previous experience, especially the air-defense system, Armenia’s politico-military leadership did not allow similar agreements to restrict our troops from accomplishing their military and tactical tasks. I am sure that it is going to be so this time as well. There are ever mechanisms to utilize the potential of agreements in the Nagorno-Karabakh problem. Armenia officially stated it is a guarantor of Nagorno-Karabakh’s security and I am sure it will honor its commitments,” Mr Melik-Shahnazaryan said.

On the other hand, however many agreements are signed, Armenia relies on its own strength, without request any aid, which was the case this April.

“Agreements envisage deployment of additional forces, but not the main forces,” Mr Melik-Shahnazaryan said.