Edward Nalbandyan: Armenia would Prefer Russia not to Sell Armaments to Azerbaijan

In his interview to the Slovenian
"Dnevnik" Foreign Affairs Minister Edward Nalbandyan said that
Armenia would prefer Russia not to sell armaments to Azerbaijan.

"We are not asking our friend and partner
countries to do something for Armenia to the detriment of other countries. In
relation to the Karabakh conflict settlement we are expecting a contribution to
the OSCE Minsk Group stand. Meanwhile, Russia is one the of the OSCE MG
co-chair countries. Presidents of Russia, France and the USA have clearly
spoken of their stands on this matter in 5 statements".

At the same time, he mentioned that Armenia's stand is
in accord with the Minsk mediators' proposals. 
"We welcome the co-chairs' statements. Armenia has already said it
is ready to settle the conflict on the basis of the three principles of the
international right offered by the mediators".

According to him, Azerbaijan keeps rejecting all the
proposals that could settle the conflict and build confidence measures. He
pointed that in the past 10 years the Azerbaijani side significantly increased
its military budget. The Republic of Azerbaijan keeps threatening with
resumption of hostilities. 

"We have the opportunity to continue the
negotiations process with the co-chairs' help. Why not use the chance?",
said the minister.

He also mentioned that Azerbaijan is the main threat
to the region's stability and security. "It is a state that has increased
its military budget from 163 million USD up to 5 billion USD in the past 10
years. It is a state that threatens to use force and keeps delivering military
rhetoric speeches. It is a real threat. We need to work out how to deal with it
and try and settle the regional conflicts with the help of mediators",
summed up the minister.