Simmons: Military Presence of Russia in Armenia Affair of the Two StatesOctober 29, 2005 - 13:54 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Military presence of a country on the territory of another is the affair of the two states. NATO Secretary General's Special Representative for the South Caucasus and Central Asia Robert Simmons stated it addressing a round table organized by Center for Strategic Analysis Spectrum in Yerevan today. In his words, when Georgia refused from Russian military presence, the NATO and OSCE assisted in the question of withdrawal of Russian troops from Georgia's territory. Armenia is agree with Russia's military presence and if Yerevan changes its attitude to the issue, the NATO will respectively provide assistance, R. Simmons remarked. The Armenia-NATO Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) does not indicate the quantitative aspect of the armed forces, merely providing for budget planning of the defense field, the NATO SecGen's Special Representative emphasized.Speaking of the NATO-Russia relations, Robert Simmons stated the Alliance does not consider Russia's proposal on arranging cooperation with the CSTO acceptable. In his words, the NATO approach provides for development of individual and direct cooperation with partners, including CSTO member states within the IPAP framework. Top stories Achieving stable peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan remains a priority of the OSCE, said Ian Borg. The Cabinet of Ministers decided on Thursday, November 9 to allocated AMD 120 million to arrange the gathering. Michael Roth believes sanctions must be put on the table after Baku‘s ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh. The Yerevan City Council has elected Tigran Avniyan from the ruling Civil Contract as the mayor of the Armenian capital. Partner news | Armenia, Turkey discuss restoration of historic bridge The meeting took place on May 17 in Ashgabat on the sidelines of an international conference of ministers of culture. India wants Armenia’s proposals on use of Chabahar port India is expecting proposals from Armenia regarding the use of Chabahar port in Iran, Indian ambassador says. EU welcomes Armenia-Azerbaijan “progress” The EU has welcomed “progress” made in the framework of the Armenia-Azerbaijan border delimitation process. Belarus opposition leader slams Lukashenko for Karabakh trip Belarusian opposition politician Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has harshly criticized the visit of Lukashenko to Karabakh. |