Armenian defence minister unruffled by increase in Azeri military spending
Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
1 Jul 05
[Presenter] In two years the Armenian armed forces will be fully
equipped with professional officers. In 2015, the Armenian armed
forces will no longer be behind the best armies of the world, Armenian
Defence Minister Serzh Sarkisyan has said in his address to graduates
of the Vazgen Sarkisyan Military Academy.
[Passage omitted: reported details]
[Correspondent] The Armenian defence minister described as senseless
and hopeless the recent statement of the Azerbaijani president about
an increase in [Azerbaijan’s] military spending. We also have the
opportunity to increase funding for our armed forces and not to lag
behind Azerbaijan’s military spending.
[Sarkisyan] A military solution to the problem cannot yield positive
results. I am confident that it is impossible to solve the problem in
a military way today. Let’s assume that Azerbaijan’s military spending
is not 300m, but 400m dollars. This cannot change anything
considerably.
This is not the arms race of the Cold War period between the USA and
the Soviet Union which were trying to achieve supremacy by spending
billions of dollars. The situation is different today. As the saying
goes, everyone is working as they can.
[Passage omitted: reported details]
[Video showed the ceremony at the Military Academy]
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress