WPS Agency, Russia
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
January 16, 2009 Friday
RIPOSTE
THE RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY DENIES DELIVERY OF $800 MILLION WORTH OF
MERCHANDISE TO ARMENIA; Russia and Armenia deny that $800 million
worth of weaponry changed hands.
by Yuri Simonjan
The Defense Ministry officially refuted reports in the Azerbaijan
media to the effect that Armenia received $800 million worth of
merchandise from Russia. "It does not quadrate to facts. Official
statement will be available within hours," to quote a source in the
Defense Ministry’s Press Service.
Azerbaijani media outlets did report a gratis transfer of weapons from
the 102nd Russian Military Base in Gyumri to the Armenian regular
army. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry even demanded explanations from
Russian Ambassador Vasily Istratov.
Hypotheses purporting to explain the "New Year gift" to Armenia
suggested everything from the banal suspicion that Russia was out to
engineer another war in the Caucasus to the wild assumptions that the
Armenian regime needed the merchandise to crush the opposition.
Armenia meanwhile is reverberating with rumors that the Russian base
in Gyumri will be enlarged soon (some units of the base will be
allegedly deployed in other regions of the country) and that another
military base may be established in Armenia before
long. Representatives of the Russian Defense Ministry toured Armenia
and allegedly chose civilian airfield in the town of Stepanavan in the
northern part of the country. Russian and Armenian defense ministries
decline comment.
"Matters of this magnitude are never settled in so flippant a
manner. The Russian military has been making familiarization trips but
that’s normal practice among strategic partners," Armenian ex-Defense
Minister Vagarshak Arutyunjan said.
Arutyunjan dismissed speculations and rumors concerning the 102nd
Base. "Under the Treaty on Conventional Arms in Europe, Russia and
Armenia must inform the OSCE HQ in Vienna of all quantitative changes
or redeployment intentions," he said. Arutyunjan added that the
alleged $800 million deal was actually a canard because every
signatory of the Treaty on Conventional Arms in Europe has the right
to examine fulfillment of its terms by other signatories any
moment. "Armenia has been examined more than once and always declared
clean," he said.
As far as Arutyunjan is concerned, it is Azerbaijan that violates the
Treaty on Conventional Arms in Europe through active procurement of
merchandise (armored vehicles and Smerch volley-fire rocket launchers)
from the Czech Republic and Ukraine. "We all witnessed what armament
of Georgia by Ukraine resulted in. I trust we will be spared this turn
of events," Arutyunjan said. "As for the rearmament of Azerbaijan,
this fact is known to the UN because all arms exporters update it on a
regular basis."
Source: Nezavisimaya Gazeta, January 15, 2009, p. 1
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
