Armenia does not see necessity to engage CSTO or Russia to confront aggression by Azerbaijan: press secretary of Defense Ministry

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 5, ARMENPRESS. The military-political leadership of the Republic of Armenia has stated for several times that they don’t see the necessity to engage CSTO or Russia to confront aggression on part of Azerbaijan, and that capabilities of our Armed Forces are sufficient enough to implement any operation task. The CSTO membership and the Armenian-Russian military cooperation are directed to prevent possible aggression on part of a third country. Armenpress reports that the press secretary of the Defense Minister of the Republic of Armenia Artsrun Hovhannisyan noted it in his page of Facebook touching upon the fact that the newly-appointed Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan asked explanations from OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs about the recent interview of the commander of the 102nd military base in Gyumri to “Kraznaya Zvezda” newspaper.

The Commander of the 102nd Russian military base deployed in Gyumri, the Armenian Colonel Andrey Ruzinsky stated that if Azerbaijan launches operation in Nagorno-Karabakh, Russian military base in Armenia may be involved in the conflict. Armenpress reports that in the interview with "Krasnaya Zvezda" official newspaper, touching upon the military-political situation in the region, for which the military base responsible, Ruzinsky noted that “it is characterized by a number of factors causing instability due to the possibility of confrontation in the region of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict”.

“If the Azerbaijani authorities decide to restore the jurisdiction over Nagorno Karabakh by force, the military base may enter into an armed conflict in accordance with the legal obligations of the Russian Federation within the framework of the Collective Security Treaty”, - said Ruzinsky.

Ruzinsky noted that the military base is a compound that is ready for immediate intervention: “Its structure includes 13 major combat units and 17 units of comprehensive support. This force is able to successfully fulfill the related tasks. I should add that the main feature of the Russian military base in Armenia is anti-aircraft missile battalion. It has been equipped with BUK-M1-2 anti-aircraft complex, Smerch artillery battery and the air base with a squadron of MiG- 29 warplanes”.

Artsrun Hovhannisyan also pointed out that the staff of the Defense Minister of Azerbaijan perhaps did not inform the latter about Article 4 of CSTO Treaty and Protocol 5 on the status of Russian military base in Armenia signed in August, 2010 in a proper manner.