Nikolay Rizhkov: Karabakh problem should be solved urgently 

ArmInfo. Nikolay Rizhkov, member of the Federal Council of the Russian Federation who is in Yerevan now, expressed hope that new Prime Minister of Armenia Karen Karapetyan and members of the government will be able to find ways of developing the country's economy. 

According to him Armenia's main problem is complex social economic  situation. "According to our data nearly 30% of population lives in  poverty and this is very bad. Consequently, it is necessary to  develop economy to ensure decent living standards for people",  Rizhkov told journalists on November 10. 

The Russian politician also commented on the upcoming parliamentary  elections in Armenia scheduled for April 2017. "We hope that new  forces will enter parliament, however the skeleton staff, that has  worked efficiently for all these years, will also remain", the  politician emphasized. 

Answering to the issue of Russian-Azerbaijani contracts on weapons  the member of the Federal Council of the Russian Federation stated  that Moscow does not intend to escalate the situation. "Yes, we sell  weapons, but we do not do it intentionally to launch war", he said. 

At the same time Rizhkov stated that it is necessary to solve  Karabakh conflict. "The Karabakh conflict should be solved urgently,  after this everything will fall into place", he summarized. 

To note, Russia holds 85% share in all the weapons purchased by Baku,  in overall during the latest four years supply of weapons from Russia  to Azerbaijan increased 3.5-fold. There is a conviction in Armenia's  society that Moscow does not only demonstrate disrespect towards  Armenia but in fact helps Azerbaijan to enrich its military forces  creating conditions for resumption of war in Karabakh.