Bright Armenia (Lusavor Hayastan) political party leader Edmon Marukyan has called for the establishment of a Russian military base in Armenia’s southeastern Syunik Province that now borders Azerbaijan.

Marukyan, in a statement released today, says the recent war in Artsakh has significantly changed the geopolitical situation in the South Caucasus and weakened Armenia’s security system.

Marukyan says the current Russian military base in Gyumri has ensured the inviolability of the Armenian-Turkish border for decades.

Marukyan argues the new Syunik base will bolster the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Artsakh, guarantee peace and security in the region, which is part of the CSTO joint security zone and serves as the EAEU and Iran border.

Bright Armenia, with seventeen MPs, is the smallest of the three factions represented in the Armenia parliament.

Marukyan writes that on December 5 he called for a new security arrangement with Russia, Armenia’s strategic partner, and that a subsequent Bright Armenia fact-finding visit to Syunik confirmed his concerns that Armenia faces a host of new security concerns.

Russian peacekeepers have been dispatched to parts of Syunik following concerns raised by local Armenians that Azerbaijani forces are encroaching along the new border that remains to be clarified.

“Undoubtedly, the Russian Federation, represented by the country's top leadership, has played a decisive role in the cessation of hostilities. The Armenian people appreciate and are deeply grateful for the steadfastness of the Russian peacekeeper standing by our soldiers and the population,” Marukyan writes, adding that Yerevan and Moscow need to sign a new agreement on heightened military-political cooperation

Marukyan calls for a comprehensive security agreement between Armenia and Russia that combines existing CSTO and the following five interstate agreements: (1992 Agreement between the "Russian Federation" of the Republic of Armenia on the status of the frontier troops of the Russian Federation and the conditions of their activity; 1997 Agreement on Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance between the Republic of Armenia and the Russian Federation; 2000 Agreement between the Republic of Armenia and the Russian Federation on Joint Planning for the Use of Troops (Forces) to Ensure Joint Security; 2015Agreement between the Republic of Armenia and the Russian Federation on the Establishment of a Unified Regional Air Defense System in the Caucasus Collective Security Region; 2016 Agreement on the Joint Grouping of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia and the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation)