David Tonoyan: The incident in Panic may lead to the introduction of  technical adjustments to the Treaty on the deployment of the Russian  military base in Armenia

ArmInfo. In connection with the incident that took place recently in Panik village, Shirak region of Armenia, during the exercises of units of the 102nd Russian military base, RA Defense Minister David Tonoyan visited Panik to get  acquainted with the situation on the spot. As a sign of friendship  and with the aim of exhausting the incident, the leadership of the  Russian base in Panic organized a festive event.

Touching upon the panic incident, David Tonoyan, in his interview  with journalists, in particular, noted that the exercises of the  102nd Russian military base are held annually and are coordinated  with the Armenian Defense Ministry. "The exercises in Panic carried  out reconnaissance missions.The place where these units carried out  the exercises was not coordinated with the Armenian Defense Ministry,  as, as is known, the scouts did not even reveal the details of their  actions even under torture. However, I want to reveal a little  secret, the Russian units in the framework of the exercises  predetermined Panic the role of the settlement helping them, and they  fought on the part of the village with a subdivision of the  conventional enemy, "Tonoyan explained, while reiterating that he  does not justify the actions of Russian intelligence agents.

At the same time, he noted that mistakes were made both from the  Russian and Armenian sides. According to him, the day before the  events began, the Russian side announced that movements will be  carried out within the framework of the exercises, but did not  specify exactly where they will pass. "Such measures should be agreed  with us from a legal point of view, however, since the Russian side  officially apologized and accepted its guilt, we will draw the  appropriate conclusions, and henceforth all the activities of the  102nd military base will be more closely coordinated with the  Armenian Defense Ministry" , Tonoyan noted, adding that both the  Armenian and Russian sides are conducting an internal investigation  into the incident, and the perpetrators will be punished.

Answering a question about whether it is possible that any changes  are made to the interstate Treaty on the deployment of the Russian  military base in Armenia against the backdrop of the last and other  incidents connected with the 102nd base, Tonoyan noted that from time  to time there is a need making certain adjustments to interstate  documents. In this regard, he did not rule out the possibility of  making adjustments to the Treaty on the deployment of the Russian  military base in Armenia, noting that the incident in Panic can  contribute to this.

To note, in the village of Panik, Russian servicemen carried out  exercises accompanied by firing empty cartridges. Since the  leadership of the 102nd Russian base did not previously notify the  villagers, many of them were frightened. The Armenian Defense  Minister subsequently met with the leadership of the military base  and discussed the incident. The management of the base admitted its  mistake and apologized.