17:22,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. Russian border guards will be deployed alongside Armenian border guards in some parts of Armenia’s eastern border with Azerbaijan in the southernmost Syunik Province, the ministry of defense told ARMENPRESS when asked to comment on media reports alleging that PM Pashinyan ordered Defense Minister Vagharshak Harutyunyan to sign a secret deal with Russia on handing over the defense of positions in Syunik to them.

“Naturally the Defense Minister couldn’t have signed any secret document, and he hasn’t,” the defense ministry said, refuting the report. “Moreover, the Defense Minister ex-officio doesn’t have the authority to sign any document related to the demarcation of the Armenian borders. The Defense Minister has only agreed with his Russian colleagues that in some parts of Syunik’s borders, due to security reasons, Russian border guards will be stationed as well.”

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan