Armenian contract soldiers to replace Russian border guards – commander

Shant TV, Yerevan
22 Mar 06

Since the introduction of contract service, the number of Armenian
servicemen has increased within the Russian frontier troops deployed
in Armenia.

At present the Russian contract servicemen account for 40 per cent of
the total number of the staff.

The commander of the Russian Border Troops, Gen [Sergey] Bondarev
said: “In accordance with the Collective Security Treaty, in parallel
with training Armenian frontier troops, some sectors of the border
will be gradually handed over to Armenian frontier guards. But the
handover has not yet been put on the agenda because of the current
situation on the Armenian border. For this reason it has been
suggested that Armenian contract servicemen should be trained to guard
the border although the institution of contract service is being
developed now. Armenia has numerous problems regarding the security of
its borders. For instance, the Armenian-Azerbaijani sector of the
border requires huge human and material resources; it is more than 900
km long. The military units on this border should be reinforced. We
are responsible for guarding the Turkish-Iranian sector, which is of
great help to Armenia.”

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress