ARMENIA, RUSSIA SIGN ARMS EXPORT DEAL

Asbarez
Dec 17th, 2009

Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian (L) and Konstantin Biryulin, deputy
head of Russia’s Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation,
sign an agreement on arms sales to thrid countries on December 17,
2009.

YEREVAN (RFE/RL)-Armenia and Russia have agreed to work together in
exporting weapons and other military equipment to third countries,
the Defense Ministry in Yerevan announced on Thursday.

The ministry said an agreement to that effect was signed on Wednesday
by Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian and a visiting senior Russian
official during a meeting of a Russian-Armenian inter-governmental
commission on bilateral military-technical cooperation.

A ministry statement gave no details of the agreement, saying only that
it envisages the two countries’ "interaction in exporting military
production to third countries." It quoted Ohanian as saying during
the signing ceremony that the deal "has a great significance for
deepening Russian-Armenian military cooperation and will help to
strengthen the armed forces of the two states."

The statement added that the Russian-Armenian commission discussed
"further development" of close military ties between Yerevan and
Moscow during the four-day session that drew to a close on Thursday.

Konstantin Biryulin, the commission’s Russian co-chairman who signed
the export agreement, also discussed the matter with Prime Minister
Tigran Sarkisian on Wednesday.

Biryulin is also the deputy head of Russia’s Federal Service for
Military-Technical Cooperation with foreign nations.

The military alliance with Russia and, in particular, the presence of
Russian troops on Armenian soil has been a key element of Armenia’s
national security doctrine since independence. Armenia has been
entitled to receiving Russian weapons at cut-down prices or even free
of charge also because of its membership in the Collective Security
Treaty Organization (CSTO), a Russian-led military pact of six former
Soviet republics.

Ohanian was reported to say earlier this week that Armenia expects
direct military assistance from the CSTO in the event of another war
with Azerbaijan. That Yerevan can count on such support was confirmed
by the CSTO’s secretary-general, Nikolay Bordyuzha, in August.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress