Russia to continue its arms sales to Armenia, Azerbaijan: Medvedev

PanARMENIAN.Net - Russia will continue its arms sales to both Armenia and Azerbaijan, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview broadcast on Saturday, April 9, Reuters reports.

Medvedev, who traveled to both Armenia and Azerbaijan this week, said Russia had no intention to halt its arms sales to any side of the conflict.

"If we imagine for a minute that Russia has given up this role (of arms seller), we well understand that this place will not stay vacant," Medvedev told the weekly "Vesti on Saturday" program on Russian state TV.

"They will buy weapons in other countries, and the degree of their deadliness won't change in any way," he said. "But at the same time, this could ... destroy the existing balance of forces (in the region)."

Moscow believes the possible involvement of other major arms exporters to the region "will most likely complicate the situation further."

"I believe weapons may and should be bought not only to be used one day, but to be a deterrent factor," Medvedev said.

"This aspect must be considered by both sides of the conflict."

The parties to the Karabakh conflict agreed on a bilateral ceasefire along the contact line which came into force at midday, April 5.

Prior to that, on the night of April 1-2, Azerbaijani armed forces initiated overt offensive operations in the southern, southeastern and northeastern directions of the line of contact with Nagorno Karabakh.

As many as 46 Karabakh servicemen were killed and 122 were wounded in the course of military operations.

As of April 5, the Azerbaijani side has lost 26 tanks and 4 infantry fighting vehicles, as well as 1 BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launcher, 1 engineering vehicle, 2 military helicopters and 11 unmanned aerial vehicles. The Azerbaijani side has admitted the loss of 31 fighters, 1 helicopter and 1 unmanned drones, whereas the Armenian side's photo and video materials show dozens of killed Azerbaijani troops, 1 helicopter and 3 UAVs. Opposition media outlets, however, reported on the death of 81 Azerbaijani soldiers, stating that 6 more have gone missing. According to Karabakh authorities, 300 Azerbaijani soldiers were killed in clashes.

14 Karabakh tanks have been neutralized since April 2.

Read also:OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs meet with protests in Yerevan