WPS Agency, Russia
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
January 16, 2009 Friday

RUSSIA SUSPECTED OF HANDING OUT MERCHANDIZE;
Azerbaijan demands an explanation

Vladimir Soloviov, Ivan Konovalov

RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY IS ASKED TO EXPLAIN ARMS DELIVERIES TO
ARMENIA; An update on the Russian-Azerbaijani scandal.

Reporting gratis delivery of $800 million worth of merchandise to
Armenia, Azerbaijan media outlets fomented a major scandal between
Azerbaijan and Russia. Russian Ambassador to Azerbaijan was summoned
to the Foreign Ministry in Baku for explanations. The Russian Defense
Ministry called the reports false. The Russian Foreign Ministry
declined comment pending the completion of a thorough investigation of
all circumstances.

ANS TV network was the first to break the sensational news. It quoted
Alexander Petrunin of the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service as
allegedly confirming weapons transfer under the terms of the
appropriate Russian-Armenian agreement. Neither the assortment nor
quantities of the weapons or the name of the document in question were
specified. Baku hit the roof. Russian Ambassador in Baku, Vasily
Istratov, was summoned to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry. Day.az
agency reported that the Russian diplomat met with Deputy Foreign
Minister Araz Azimov who asked Istratov to confirm or deny the report.

The Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed the fact of summons but
declined further comment. Sources say investigation is under way. "All
of that has to be checked and verified. Somebody could distort the
picture, inadvertently or with malicious intent," a source said.

The Russian Defense Ministry was more explicit. Colonel Alexander
Drobyshevsky, acting chief of the Press Service, said response to the
formal inquiry was being drawn at this point. "There is nothing so far
to confirm that any merchandize changed hands," he said. "We evaluate
reports like this as an information provocation." Drobyshevsky added
that "… Petrunin is not authorized to offer any such comment in the
first place."

Armenia denied all innuendo too. "I do not know where they got this
information," Armenian Defense Ministry Press Secretary Sejran
Shakhsuvanjan said and called the report "disinformation." "Armenia is
a member of the CIS Collective Security Treaty Organization. It
maintains military contacts with Russia. Still, I’m not aware of any
such purchases," Shakhsuvanjan said.

Source: Kommersant, January 14, 2009, p. 8

Translated by Aleksei Ignatkin