ARMENIAN MINISTER UNHAPPY ABOUT IMBALANCE IN US MILITARY AID

Arminfo
21 Jun 04

YEREVAN

There is a disparity between US military aid for Armenia and
Azerbaijan, Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan has told
Armenian Public Television.

This is explained by the fact that Azerbaijan is closely cooperating
with the USA in the military field, and if Armenia also shows a strong
desire to intensify this cooperation, then it cannot be ruled out that
the aid for Armenia will be increased, he said.

The matter, the minister believes, is about the (Armenian)
complementary policy: “We are deepening cooperation with one country
and are trying to establish cooperation with the other, complementing
the security sphere.” “At the current stage, we are pleased with the
existing level of military cooperation with the USA,” the foreign
minister said. “This issue has been resolved politically, but it has
not been clarified in practice. We have a chance to balance all
these. So, there are chances and it remains to show a desire,” he
said.

At the same time, the minister said that Armenia would continue
debating the issue with the USA. “I think, we shall be able to manage
this, by expanding relations with the USA in this sphere to eventually
achieve financial parity between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” the foreign
minister said.

He believes that it is necessary to conduct discussions with the
Defence Ministry, to find out about our needs and spheres this aid is
channelled into and whether we need aid in this sphere. “After all,
one of the components of the US military aid is combating terrorism
and stepping up border security, and we should correctly assess our
requirements in this direction which could be in keeping with the
tasks facing the USA,” the minister said.