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What did Armenia ask of Russia in March 2024?
Summary
A look back at two regional moves reported in the days before 8 March 2024, on Armenia's airport and Sweden's path into NATO.
What was changing in Ukraine's wider neighbourhood by 8 March 2024? Two reports from the preceding days pointed in different directions: one concerned Armenia and Russia, the other Sweden and NATO.
On 6 March 2024, Armenia formally asked Russia to withdraw its troops from Zvartnots International Airport near Yerevan. Armenia said the airport must be served solely by the Armenian Border Guard. Russia had maintained a military presence at the airport since 1992, so the request touched an arrangement that had lasted more than three decades.
A day earlier, on 5 March 2024, Hungarian President Tamás Sulyok signed a bill formally authorising the Foreign Ministry to ratify Sweden's accession to NATO. The signature was a step in the enlargement process for the alliance.
Taken together, the two reports show how security arrangements in Europe and the South Caucasus were being reshaped in the days leading up to 8 March 2024: one state asking a foreign force to leave a key airport, and another moving closer to joining a military alliance.
