Armenia learned what sovereignty is – thanks to Azerbaijan

After the complete end of the Karabakh conflict, Armenia continues its attempts to get out from under Russian influence. She does this slowly, without sudden movements, fearing that the former "big brother" might be distracted from Ukraine and pay close attention to his southern outpost. This possibility still exists, even though Moscow is tied to the Ukrainian campaign.

On January 1, 2025, Russian border guards began to leave the Armenian-Iranian border.  According to the Armenian media, joint patrols with the border troops of the National Security Service of Armenia are currently underway at a number of sites, but there are no more Russians at the checkpoint and the process will be completed, that is, the border with Iran will be completely under the control of the RA border guards. However, now, in connection with what is happening in Iran, some are calling for Russia to be returned to the border, fearing that the Armenians themselves will not be able to cope. But such calls are very rare.

Recently it became known that Armenia has withdrawn Russian border guards from the state border with Turkiye. This was reported by the Armenian media with reference to the report on the implementation of the program of the Government of the Republic of Armenia for 2025.

Starting from March 1, 2025, military personnel of the Border Troops of the National Security Service of Armenia will serve exclusively at the Margara checkpoint on the Armenia-Turkiye border. Since the beginning of 2026, a similar procedure has been established at the Akhurik checkpoint. For some reason, the authorities had not previously confirmed these facts. Now the government has officially confirmed this. Thus, there are no more border posts on the Armenian borders that are not fully controlled by Armenian border guards.

Russian and Armenian experts are trying to link the withdrawal of Russian border guards to Armenian-American relations and the peace process with Azerbaijan. In particular, the acceleration of the transition of borders under Armenian control was associated with the Memorandum signed in Washington on August 8, 2025 and the initialing of the peace treaty. The Armenian Foreign Ministry denied these versions, stating that the agreement with Azerbaijan does not discuss the issue of Russian border guards, and, in general, this issue is regulated exclusively by bilateral agreements with the Russian side. In particular, the agreements reached at the meeting of the leaders of the two countries in Moscow in May 2024.

We would not so categorically deny that these steps of Armenia are somehow connected with Azerbaijan. They have a direct connection with the events of recent years in the region. Yes, the Washington agreement has nothing to do with it, but the opportunity to get a taste of sovereignty is precisely the result of the end of the conflict and the beginning of the peace process, which strengthened Armenia's position as a member of the world community.

It should be noted that the FSB border guards were in Armenia in accordance with the international agreement of September 30, 1992 "On the status of Russian border troops in the territory of the Republic of Armenia and the conditions of their operation." According to the agreement, four Russian border guards were based on the territory of the country, which were subordinate to the border directorate of the FSB of the Russian Federation.: in Gyumri, Armavir, Artashat and Meghri. They guarded Armenia's border with Turkiye (330 km) and Iran (45 km). At the Armenia checkpoint at Yerevan's Zvartnots International Airport, Russian border guards served together with their Armenian counterparts.

Armenia independently guarded the border with Georgia (220 km), the border with Azerbaijan (1,000 km), as well as three air checkpoints at Zvartnots, Erebuni and Gyumri airports.

After the 2020 war, and especially after September 2023, Yerevan began to seriously consider withdrawing Russian forces from the borders. Due to the complete completion of the Karabakh conflict and the prospects that opened up for Armenia, the fact of control over the borders of a sovereign state by another country looked very unsightly and had to be disposed of. Having lost foreign lands, Armenia had the opportunity to become a truly sovereign state, and it should have started with borders.

2024 was a year of change in this regard. Since August 1, Armenian border guards have been on duty at Zvartnots Airport. Yerevan and Moscow also agreed on the withdrawal of Russian border guards stationed in the Ararat, Vayots Dzor, Gegharkunik, Syunik and Tavush regions, that is, on the borders with Azerbaijan. According to Russian media, Pashinyan stated that due to the changed conditions, there is no longer a need to deploy Russian military and border guards in Armenia, who were stationed there after the 2020 war. These issues were resolved in May 2024 during the talks between Vladimir Putin and Nikol Pashinyan in Moscow.

The Kremlin's press service reported at the time that "at the request of the Armenian side, Russian border guards will remain on the Armenian border with Turkiye and Iran." However, this turned out to be not entirely true. Because by the end of the year, it became known about completely different plans of Yerevan.

In early 2025, Russian border guards left the only checkpoint on the Armenian-Iranian border, Karchevan, and now they have left the Margara and Akhurik checkpoints on the Armenian-Turkish border.

Perhaps the meaning of what happened is still not well understood in Armenia itself. For most, this is just a break with dependence on Russia and a transition to dependence on the West. But in fact, we are talking about the sovereignty of Armenia as a state. Since gaining independence, this country has not been sovereign in the full sense of the word for almost a single day. Status