Russia considers any attack on Armenia as a threat to itself: MP

PanARMENIAN.Net - Russia will consider any attack or military threat to Armenia as a threat to itself, the first deputy chairman of the Committee of Russia’s State Duma for CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots Konstantin Zatulin said on Monday, March 26.

"We really express our concern in the declaration we just signed in connection with attempts to violate the existing status quo in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict zone and stall any negotiation process with intimidation, military rhetoric, threat of force and so on," Zatulin said, according to Panorama.am.

“We understand that this conflict, like most conflicts on the globe, has no solution other than a peaceful one. And today in Russia, as always, we are worried for the military method to not be used to solve such a complex issue,” the lawmaker said adding that “Russia intends to fulfill its allied obligations to Armenia in the field of defense and security.”

"And in the future, when it comes to the CSTO, Russia will consider any attack against or military threat to Armenia as a threat to itself."

"We understand that after the outbreak of 2016, provoked by one of the sides, there were serious complaints in the public opinion of Armenia, for example, in the matter of the supply of Russian weapons to Azerbaijan. We are very sorry that Azerbaijan did not find any other application for this, except in the conflict zone, violating the ceasefire that existed, also through our mediation efforts, since 1994. Believe me, we have drawn conclusions, just like my colleague Konstantin Kosachev talked about them during a recent meeting in Armenia,” Zatulin said.

Azerbaijan on April 2, 2016 launched a large-scale military offensive against Karabakh which left hundreds dead on both sides. Top Armenian and Azerbaijani defense officials reached an agreement on the cessation of hostilities on April 5 in Moscow.

"I want you to see that Russia has drawn conclusions in connection with the violation of the balance of arms in the region and provided Armenia with the most modern means of defense, which you, I hope, had the opportunity to see at the parade on the Independence day.”

While in Yerevan earlier in March, Kosachev, a senator and the chairman of the foreign affairs committee, said that deliveries of Russian weapons to Azerbaijan were carried out under agreements reached before the April war in Karabakh in 2016.

According to him, however, Russia will not supply weapons to Azerbaijan in the same amounts it did before 2016.