Deputy Minister of Defense Gabriel Balayan spoke to journalists about the meeting between the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan. He said that our MFA sees the support of the Ministry of Defense and the Armed Forces as our main defense. Responding to a comment about how the Azeri MFA made a statement that a political resolution needs to be determined as a result of negotiations by the OSCE Minsk Group, Balayan said, “It’s good that they are finally realizing that this issue needs to be resolved through negotiations and that their militarist rhetoric is finally going away.”
When asked if it’s possible for there to be tension at the border, Gabriel Balayan said, “Our army is prepared at any phase of the negotiations process. Please, do not worry. The negotiations process has no impact on the preparedness of the Armed Forces. As we have said several times, the Armed Forces of Armenia and Artsakh determine the situation at the border. There were discussions held about the state budget today, during which the Prime Minister announced that serious achievements have been made by the Armed Forces. This is true, of course, but we cannot say too much yet. Please understand that no part of the negotiations process will have a negative impact on the capabilities of our armed forces.”
Gabriel Balayan said that there was some tension before the negotiations, but there has not been a drastic increase or decrease in the number of gunshots fired, besides the incident in which a soldier was wounded last week. “There has been a positive dynamic, by the way, other than that incident, which we have responded to in the appropriate manner. Everything else is going as it should.”
Hripsime Jebejyan
