Any country has right to have defense forces - Georgian FM

ArmInfo. Any country has the right to have defense forces, and when it comes to conventional equipment or weapons permitted by international agreements, any country has the right to acquire them, Georgian FM Ilia Darchiashvili stated as he answered a question about the delivery of French armored  vehicles to Armenia via Georgia. 

According to him, the key goal of Tbilisi, together with two friendly  and fraternal peoples, is to ensure peace and stability in the  region.

As the head of the foreign policy department noted, Georgia is quite  successfully fulfilling the role of an impartial player in this  process.

"In general, Georgia has always, over the years, tried to take on  this natural role in this process, although it was a very difficult,  complex conflict, and that was thanks to the special efforts of the  Prime Minister, his personal relationships with the leaders of  Georgia of the two countries. "that we have received a concrete  result, a mutually beneficial agreement for both countries,"  Darchiashvili said on the First Channel of Georgia

According to him, Armenia and Azerbaijan have openly started talking  about the need for peace, the signing of a peace agreement, and their  narrative is completely focused on peace.

"We heard this many times during the visits of President Aliyev of  the Republic of Azerbaijan, Prime Minister of Armenia Pashinyan to  Georgia, as well as during the visit of the Prime Minister of  Azerbaijan to Georgia. Georgia gives both countries the opportunity  to use the transit function of our country on equal terms. I want to  emphasize that it is on equal terms.

"Any country has the right to have a defense force, and when it comes  to conventional equipment or weapons permitted by international  agreements, any country has the right to acquire them. Georgia's  position is to give both countries the opportunity to use the transit  function that our country has on equal terms. Accordingly, this is  our response on this issue, and unnecessary insinuations or any  insinuations on this issue are inappropriate," Darchiashvili said.

This is how the Georgian minister answered the question of the  program host whether the information spread in the Azerbaijani and  then Georgian media about the supply of armored vehicles from France  to Armenia through Georgia would interfere with Georgia's important  role as a mediator in relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Darchiashvili also repeated Tbilisi's position regarding the "3+3"  format, saying that Georgia is not participating and will not  participate in its work in the future. At the same time, he noted  that Georgia has very good, friendly relations and cooperation with  neighboring countries - Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan in bilateral  formats.

Earlier it became known that France transferred a batch of Bastion  armored vehicles to Armenia. Deliveries are made through the  territory of Georgia.