"HOSTILITIES MIGHT BEGIN ANY MOMENT"
Vladimir Soloviov

WPS Agency
June 27, 2008 Friday
Russia

An interview with President of Armenia Serj Sarkisjan.

Question: The so called NATO Week began in Armenia the day your visit
to Moscow began. What was that? Try as I might, I do not recall any
weeks of the CIS Collective Security Treaty Organization in Armenia.

Serj Sarkisjan: There may have been no weeks of the CIS Collective
Security Treaty Organization indeed, but it will be running its first
Border’2008 military exercise in Armenia this September. All I can say
is that we attach more importance to the forthcoming exercise than to
this NATO event. On the other hand, there is nothing extraordinary
about this latter either. There are NATO Information Centers in
Yerevan and Moscow.

We are determined to develop relations with the Alliance within the
framework of the individual partnership program. I trust out Armed
Forces will benefit from the experience. Anyway, we keep saying that
membership in NATO is not on the foreign political agenda.

Question: Armenia will chair the CIS Collective Security Treaty this
year. Do you perhaps intend to reorganize the structure somehow?

Serj Sarkisjan: I do not think that it needs any radical
reforms. Membership in the CIS Collective Security Treaty Organization
is extremely beneficial. Our Armed Forces are shaped in accordance
with the Soviet military doctrine. Practically all weapons and military
hardware they wield are Soviet- or Russian-made. All of that has to be
maintained and upgraded, and membership in the CIS Collective Security
Treaty Organization enables us to do so. Status of a privileged partner
in military-technical cooperation with Russia suits us just fine.

Question: Armenia and Azerbaijan procure military hardware with the
abandon that leads observers to the conclusion that hostilities over
Nagorno-Karabakh might resume…

Serj Sarkisjan: Yes, this is a possibility that should be allowed
for. Moreover, the Azerbaijani leadership all but admits that sheer
strength of arms might be deployed by way of a solution. At least
two men in Armenia (supreme commander-in-chief and defense minister)
should always remember that the hostilities might begin any moment.

Azerbaijan is the only country that takes pride in its mounting
military expenditures. Should Baku accept even for a moment the premise
that it will defeat the Armenians, it may give order to the regular
army. If you ask me, however, it is not a solution. There must be a
peaceful solution, and we discussed the matter from precisely this
angle at the meeting with President Ilham Aliyev in St.Petersburg. The
meeting was quite constructive.

Question: Gazprom is out to up gas prices for all CIS consumers
including Armenia, Russia’s strategic partner…

Serj Sarkisjan: We understand Gazprom and believe its top managers
when they say that the decision to up prices is not political. On the
other hand, we would appreciate it if the process is gradual. And yes,
Armenia and Russia are strategic partners.

Question: Running the Armenian railroads, Russian Railroad intends
to restore railroad service with Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Russia via
Georgia. Do you think it possible?

Serj Sarkisjan: Its absence is a major hindrance indeed. Unable to use
land routes, we are compelled to use ferries and that means additional
costs. I think I detect a certain improvement of the relations with
Ankara. Opening of the borders will benefit us all, I’m convinced. At
the same time, we understand that Turkey will treat the matter from
the standpoint of the Armenian-Azerbaijani relations. In any event,
the world is changing and it behooves us to change with it.