Baku doesn't accept Russian Defense Ministry's explanationJanuary 15, 2009 - 18:27 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry expressed "regret" over the fact of "free of charge delivery of Russian armament to the amount of $800 million to Armenia." "The work carried out gives reason to believe the information to be true," says a statement issued by the Azeri MFA. The Ministry says that the delivery "is a violation of the UN Resolutions on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and of the UN Resolution 'On the Situation in the Occupied Territories of Azerbaijan.' "Full responsibility for the consequences of this action rests on Russia," the statement says. The Russian Defense Ministry refuted Wednesday Azeri media reports about delivery of Russian armament to Armenia. The reports are clearly untrue, said Alexander Drobyshevsky, a spokesman for the Ministry, told The Echo of Moscow. Earlier, the Armenian Defense Ministry also denied the reports that Russia supplied Armenia with military hardware to the amount of $800 million. The reports are absolutely false, the RA Defense Minister's spokesman, colonel Seyran Shahsuvaryan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. Azeri ANS TV quoted Russian Defense Ministry's spokesman Alexander Petrunin as saying that "Russia delivered military hardware to Armenia in the framework of a transnational agreement." 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 | Putin congratulates Pashinyan’s birthday Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on his birthday on June 1. Opposition motorcade en route to Gyumri for large rally A motorcade of protesters headed by Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan is heading to the city of Gyumri. Ruling MPs, Foreign Minister talk Armenia-Azerbaijan processes MOs from the ruling Civil Contract party met with the Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan in the Armenian parliament. Russia: Armenia’s frozen membership weakens CSTO position in Caucasus A Russian envoy said any step that could alienate the CSTO member states from each other is “deeply wrong”. |