“Russia is often accused of arming Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan unofficially accuses Russia of supporting Armenians. I assume that the Russian reporter also asks the United States the question of supplying weapons, in the hope to show that the United States also helps both Armenia and Azerbaijan. Warlick bypasses this question quite carefully, saying that they do not provide offensive weapons to Armenia and Azerbaijan,” – said military expert Karen Vrtanesyan in an interview with Aravot.am, commenting on the interview of the OSCE Minsk Group US Co-Chair James Warlick.
Recall that the US co-chair, in his interview with “Interfax” news agency, had told that there is a mandate on Azerbaijan by their Congress, which allow us to supply weapons that can be used for the offensive purposes in the Karabakh conflict.
To the question of whether this statement by Warlick will not add the accusations addressed to Russia and the criticisms about supplying weapons, and as Armenia’s strategic ally, it could have such a restrictive mandate or law on supplying weapons, Karen Vrtanesyan said, “Warlick formulates his statements pretty cautiously, saying that unlike the US, Russia has very old ties with the two countries, and noted that Russia does not have conflict with the US on this issue… Warlick’s statement must be explained by the question, which was asked by the Russian reporter, I do not think that Warlick had an intention of making such a statement, the Russian reporter had asked this question.”
Arpine SIMONYAN
