RIA Novosti, Russia
June 20 2005

Russia eases Azerbaijani concerns over military hardware in Armenia
10:21

MOSCOW, June 20 (RIA Novosti) – Russia has managed to ease
Azerbaijan’s concerns over the withdrawal of Russian military
hardware from Georgia to Armenia, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said
yesterday.

While speaking to a news program on national television’s Channel
One, he said that Russia had explained to its “Azerbaijani friends”
that the equipment and hardware would be located at a Russian
military base. “So the change to the balance of forces in the region
that some people are worrying about will not happen,” he said.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev told the same program: “We realize
that arms will be transferred to the Russian base, and they will not
be given to the Armenian Armed Forces.”

Nevertheless, he said, Azerbaijan planned to increase military
spending expenditures by $70 million by the end of the year so that
no one could have any security fears.

Aliyev said he hoped that some of the new armaments would be bought
in Russia.