October 31, 2020 - 10:35 AMT
Pashinyan contacts Putin for urgent Armenia-Russia consultations

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has addressed a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin to begin urgent consultations to determine the types and the amount of assistance that Russia can provide to Armenia to ensure its security, amid Azerbaijan's aggression.

In the letter he sent on Saturday, October 31, Pashinyan detailed the situation created by the Azerbaijani-Turkish military aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh and the challenges that have emerged.

The Armenian PM stressed, in particular, the transfer of mercenary terrorists from the Middle East and their participation in hostilities from the Azerbaijani side.

"Given that hostilities are closing in on Armenia's borders and that encroachments have already taken place on the territory of Armenia, the Armenian Prime Minister has appealed to the Russian President to begin urgent consultations to determine the types and the amount of assistance that Russia can provide to Armenia to ensure its security, based on the allied relations between Armenia and Russia and Article 2 of the Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance signed on August 29, 1997," the letter said.

Under Article 2, the parties will closely cooperate with each other to ensure the security and the protection of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Armenia and the Russian Federation. They will consult immediately whenever one of them believes that there is a threat of an armed attack on them in order to ensure joint defense, as well as peace and mutual security. These consultations will determine the need, types and extent of assistance that one party will provide to the other party in order to overcome the situation.