Tonoyan: Armenia buys necessary amounts of modern arms

During an Armenian delegation’s visit to the United States, Deputy Defense Minister of Armenia David Tonoyan who leads the delegation said that Armenia can counter any action of Azerbaijan, according to RFE/RL.

When asked by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty at a press conference in the Armenian embassy in Washington, whether Azerbaijan will use land or air forces in case of large-scale hostilities, Tonoyan replied that “Baku will resort to all of its capacities, while we will take the appropriate steps”.

D. Tonoyan said the recent statement of Russian Foreign Ministry was addressed to both sides. As for expectations from the Sochi meeting of presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan, he noted that a new statement can be expected at the most, after which Azerbaijan will hardly stop its actions.

Asked about the possible deployment of Russian peacekeepers, David Tonoyan said: “There was not even a preliminary discussion of this issue. The Armenian armed forces can successfully perform their tasks on their own. We do not consider the deployment of a third force with Russia or any other country or organization. Besides, peacekeeping forces can only be deployed after a peace agreement is signed.

As regards expectations from the international community, he said that being aware of the importance of stability in the South Caucasus, the international community should finds levers of exerting influence on Azerbaijan, otherwise bloody events will start in the region.

Armenia will continue to keep the military balance in the region, Tonoyan said noting that for this purpose Armenia purchases from Russia as many modern arms as it needs to curb Azerbaijan. “We will do it until our neighbor returns to the right path,” deputy defense minister said.