Prevention of arms race in the region is among the Armenian Foreign Ministry’s priorities, a spokeswoman was quoted as saying at a briefing on Thursday, December 20.

Anna Naghdalyan’s comments came in response to a statement by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko about the sale of weapons and Polonez systems to Baku.

Lukashenko revealed recently that he offered Armenia Belarusian Polonez missile systems - which Minsk also supplies to Baku - but Armenia turned down the proposal.

“What to some is business is a deadly tool for us,” Naghdalyan said, adding that arms race contributes to instability and should be prevented.

“We can confidently declare that the Armed Forces are capable of guaranteeing the security of Armenia and Artsakh.

“But we also realize the consequences of escalation of tension in the region "