French President Emmanuel Macron, who is on a third-day visit to Armenia, visited the city of Gyumri, where a Russian military base has been stationed for decades, in the evening of 5 May. He was accompanied by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, President Vahagn Khachaturian and other senior officials.
The leaders walked through the streets of Gyumri and met with the population, with an open-air concert starting in the evening, Radio Liberty’s Armenian service reported.
During the extension of the Gyumri military base until 2044, Russia promised Armenia emergency military aid, which it failed to fulfil after the Second Karabakh War, in 2022-23, and during border conflicts – which is why Yerevan considers Moscow an unreliable partner and has begun to diversify its foreign policy.
On 4-5 May, Yerevan hosted the European Political Community (EPC) summit and a bilateral summit between Armenia and the European Union. The ENP summit was attended by the leaders of the European Union, member states, regional countries, as well as the United Kingdom and Canada.
Before arriving in Gyumri, Macron and Pashinyan signed a declaration of strategic partnership in Yerevan on 5 May. The two countries are already closely linked by cooperation in different spheres, particularly in defence.