Armenia’s Parliament Ratifies Treaty on Joint Air Defense System with Russia

With 102 votes in favor and 8 votes against, Armenia's National Assembly ratified on Thursday an agreement on creating a unified regional air defense system in the Caucasus region of collective security with Russia.

At previous parliament sittings, several opposition lawmakers, among them Heritage faction leader Zaruhi Postanjyan and Armenian National Congress MPs Nikol Pashinyan and Hrant Bagratyan, spoke against the ratification of the treaty, insisting that the deal would “threaten the security of Armenia.”

A small group of citizens, for their part, held a demonstration on June 27 outside the parliament building, demanding that the lawmakers did not give their approval for the creation of the joint air defense system.