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Armenia gives preference to defensive and punitive, whereas Azerbaijan to offensive weapons, says expert

Armenpress 09:56, 14 March, 2018

YEREVAN, MARCH 14, ARMENPRESS. The structure of armament purchase by Armenia and Azerbaijan derives from the goals pursued by countries: therefore, Armenia gives more preference to weapons designed for defensive and punitive attacks, whereas Azerbaijan’s preference is clear – everything that is needed for conducting an offensive operation, Ruben Mehrabyan – expert at the Armenian Institute of International and Security Affairs (AIISA), told Armenpress.

He said Azerbaijan’s demand for weapons is mostly met at the expense of arms supplies by Armenia’s strategic ally Russia.

“Surface analysis shows what goals these purchases pursue, they force to make conclusions and develop respective countermeasures. I think that it’s just the imperative of the day that Armenia diversifies its defense and security policy, as well as the foreign policy”, the expert noted.

According to him, by intensifying these directions Armenia must reach the point that the political price of unleashing a war must become unacceptable for Azerbaijan. The expert stated that this is first of all the function of the foreign policy.

At the same time Ruben Mehrabyan noted that Armenia should not forget about the Army’s modernization so that there is no place of temptation for Azerbaijan. “Actions must be taken so that they even cannot imagine that they can achieve success even if they are ready to pay that high and unacceptable political price and unleash a war”, he said.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) on March 12 released a new report on international arms transfers. According to the report, Armenia is ranked 54th in terms of the arms import volumes. Over the past two years Armenia imported weapons worth 124 million USD mostly from Russia. Azerbaijan imported weapons worth 551 million USD in the past two years and is ranked 27th. It mainly imported weapons from Russia and Israel.

English –translator/editor: Aneta Harutyunyan

 



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