YEREVAN. Aug 1 (Interfax) - Officials from the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB)'s Border Service have completed their service at Yerevan's Zvartnots International Airport in Armenia.
Lieut. Gen. Roman Golubitsky, chief of the FSB border directorate in Armenia, and Edgar Hunanyan, commander of the Armenian National Security Service's Border Troops, have signed a protocol on handing over border control at the Zvartnots border checkpoint to Armenian border guards.
Golubitsky said Russian border guards have properly performed their border control duties.
"The Republic of Armenia's security at the airport of entry has been ensured. Special words of gratitude to our counterparts, now an independent border control unit at Zvartnots Airport, which I am sure are performing their duties professionally, and all of us, citizens of Russia, as well as Armenia and all other countries, hope that our Armenian counterparts will ensure Armenia's security at just as high a level," Golubitsky said.
Hunanyan said the 32-year record of joint service of Armenian and Russian border guards at the airport signifies "close partnership, interaction, and uninterrupted work to ensure the two countries' border security."
Armenian border guards will apply the experience and knowledge of their Russian counterparts in their service, he said.
Members of the Russian FSB's border directorate in Armenia along with the Armenian National Security Service's Border Troops are also deployed along the country's borders with Turkey and Iran based on a treaty dating back to 1992.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said previously that Russian border guards would leave Zvartnots on August 1, 2024.