Armament drive in Caucasus pregnant with unpredictable consequencesDecember 15, 2008 - 14:54 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Armament drive in the Caucasus is pregnant with unpredictable consequences, the Armenian Foreign Minister said. "Azerbaijan keeps on increasing its defense budget and announcing plans to resolve the Karabakh conflict by the use of force. Any incident at the line of contact can lead to destabilization," Edward Nalbandian said during a joint news conference with OSCE Secretary-General Marc Perrin de Brichambaut. At that he remarked that OSCE doesn't give an adequate assessment of Azerbaijan's violations of the CFE norms. For his part, Mr. de Brichambaut emphasized that the OSCE is the forum for resolution of conflicts between the member countries. "Peaceful resolution of conflicts is a common principle for all OSCE member states," he said. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | International cybercrime ringleaders arrested in Armenia, Ukraine Europol, Europe's crime agency, has arrested four ringleaders of several cybercrime networks that used botnets. Armenia skips CSTO Defense Ministers meeting A meeting of the Council of Defense Ministers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization countries began in Almaty. Armenian, Iranian foreigh policy chief talk over the phone The Foreign Minister of Armenia once again expressed condolences to his counterpart on the death of the President of Iran. Armenia, U.S. customs authorities to boost assistance with new deal The government has approved an agreement with the U.S. government on mutual assistance between the customs authorities. |