Konstantin Kosachev: Refusal of Russia and Belarus to sell arms to  Azerbaijan can lead to dangerous and undesirable consequences

ArmInfo. Konstantin Kosachev, Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs, in Yerevan commented on the fact that Russia sold weapons to Azerbaijan.

Answering journalists' questions, Kosachev noted that in any  conflict, not only Nagorno-Karabakh, the situation is destabilized by  an imbalance when one of the parties has either a real opportunity or  the illusion that it can win a military conflict.

<Russia cooperates with Armenia and Azerbaijan in the  military-technical sector on different conditions.  Armenia is a  partner and ally of Russia in the CSTO; we do not have such relations  with Azerbaijan. Thus, there are various conditions for the supply of  weapons. The refusal of such cooperation on the part of Russia and  Belarus would lead to two, in my opinion, very dangerous and  undesirable consequences for the prospects for resolving the Karabakh  conflict. One of them is the prospect of the appearance of other  suppliers of these weapons to Azerbaijan. In this case, these weapons  will begin to compete with each other, and we know how the military  behave, who represent various arms units and systems: they always  want to show which of them is stronger, and this increases the  explosiveness, " Kosachev said.

The second option, he said, could be the scrapping of the existing  balance of forces, which is the guarantee of the non-resumption of  direct hostilities. <Incidents, unfortunately, happen, but direct  full-scale actions would cast this conflict to an absolutely initial  stage, and would nullify all efforts of those who are trying to solve  this conflict, and those who contribute to this, including Russia>,  he said.  To note, in early August, Chief of the General Staff of the  Armed Forces of Armenia, Lieutenant-General Artak Davtyan, said that  the purchase of weapons and military equipment based on agreements  previously concluded by Yerevan would continue. "This also applies to  elements of air defense, missile defense, communications, means for  long-range destruction, target destruction, and also reconnaissance  means," the Armenian military leader said then.

To recall, Armenia plans to receive four Russian Su-30SM multi-role  fighters in early 2020. In total, Yerevan would like to purchase 12  such machines. Armenia's desire to acquire Su-30SM became known after  Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan posted a photo on Facebook in June  2018 on which he was in the cockpit of a fighter at the military  airfield of Erebuni (the location of the 3624th Russian air base in  Armenia), calling it <one of the best in the world>. The Armenian  Ministry of Defense noted earlier that the process of acquiring  weapons in the framework of a $ 100 million loan previously allocated  by the Russian side is underway. The $ 100 million export credit  agreement was signed on October 24, 2017. It will be aimed at the  supply of military products of Russian production. The loan is  provided to Armenia at 3% per annum with a maturity of 15 years.  According to the agreement, Yerevan should use credit funds in  2018-2022. In June 2015, Russia also signed an agreement with Armenia  on the provision of a $ 200 million state export credit to finance  the supply of Russian weapons. According to the terms of the  agreement, a loan is repaid for 13 years with a three-year grace  period at 3% per annum.