ArmInfo.The Artsakh authorities have never proposed that Armenia's authorities dissolve the Artsakh defense army, Vitaly Balasanyan, Secretary of the Artsakh Security Council, stated in an interview with aparaj.am.
The newspaper sent the following inquiry to Mr Balasanyan. "At a Cabinet meeting on November 10, Armenia's Premier Nikol Pashinyan referred to Artsakh's proposal concerning the issue of dissolving the Artsakh defense army. He stated: 'At the Sochi meeting on October 31, I presented the Nagorno-Karabakh authorities' proposal for forming a demilitarized zone round Nagorno-Karabakh against international guarantees. As a result, Nagorno-Karabakh will not need such a large defense army'."
On November 11, a host of Armenia's Public TV, referring to the Armenian premier's statement, noted: "They in Artsakh are saying that if Russian peacekeepers are deployed along the line of contact, self- defense groups could replace the defense army. Armenia's premier evaded the question, saying the issue is being discussed. Do you know about Artsakh's proposal to form self-defense groups to replace the defense army? Which of the Artsakh government agencies introduced the proposal?"
Mr Balasanyan said: "I would like to inform you that the Artsakh authorities have never made the proposal Armenia's premier spoke about in his interview to the Public TV on November 11 - either in written form or verbally." The Artsakh armed forces will not be dissolved, Mr Balasanyan said.
"On the contrary, the army has been adapted to present-day conditions. No government agency of the Republic of Artsakh has ever made such a proposal. The common opinion of the Artsakh politico-military leadership is to preserve the Artsakh armed forces and provide them with both human and technical resources, to have the armed forces capable of accomplishing their tasks," he said.