YEREVAN (A.W.)— Azerbaijan is unlikely to initiative any full scale war in Artsakh because of the heavy losses the country would suffer, said Armenian Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan as he criticized the latest delivery of Russian weapons to Azerbaijan at a news conference.
Sargsyan told reporters that a war will not solve the Artsakh conflict, especially with all the damage it would inflict economically to Azerbaijan, reported RFE/RL’s Armenian service. He instead suggested that Azerbaijan will continue to act how it has in the past, by provoking smaller scale violations of the ceasefire.
On June 16, three soldiers of the Artsakh Defense Forces were killed by an Azeri attack while a fourth was killed the following morning. The Armenian Armed Forces then took the necessary measures to retaliate Azerbaijan’s offensive.
Meanwhile, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry reported that one of its soldiers had been killed by the Armenian side also on June 16. The Co-Chairs of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group were visiting the region during this attack.
On June 22, the Artsakh Defense Army reported to have killed four Azerbaijani soldiers as it refuted an overnight incursion attempt by Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani military denied the claim.
“I view very negatively any arms delivery to Azerbaijan, first of all, because Azerbaijan is an unpredictable country lacking mechanisms for democratic control,” said Sargsyan when asked about the new batch of anti-tank missile systems, which Russia delivered to Azerbaijan as part of an arms deal.
“In that regard, any supply of weapons [to Azerbaijan]—be it Russian weapons, Israeli weapons, or Turkish weapons—creates new risks because it’s hard to predict who will be making decisions in that country,” he added.
Sargsyan also stressed that Armenia has also been acquiring Russian weapons at a discounted price thanks to its military alliance with the country.
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