BAKU (RFE/RL)-Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry has rejected as "laughable" a claim by Yerevan that Russia could back Armenia in case of a renewed conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service reports.

Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian told RFE/RL on August 25 he had "no doubts" that under an agreement signed with Russia last week, Moscow would openly support Armenia in the event of a new conflict with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh that "became a threat to the Republic of Armenia."

But Eldar Sabiroglu, the head of the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry press service, on August 26 rejected that claim.

Sabiroglu told ANS-TV that "it is our land and it is occupied by Armenia. The Armenian separatists must be driven out of there at all cost."

Referring to the updated Russian-Armenian agreement, Sabiroglu said: "This agreement is between two states, it is up to them. But this protocol cannot hinder or stop the Azerbaijani Army."

He also said Azerbaijan had no choice but to upgrade its armed forces by acquiring new weaponry.

Nagorno-Karabakh, an historic Armenian territory is populated completely by indigenous Armenians. The region was invaded by the Azerbaijani Armenia after it declared its independence from Soviet rule in 1991. Baku's incursion and earlier attempts at ethnic cleansing in the late 1980s prompted a war that left some 30,000 dead. The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic remains unrecognized by the world community and international mediators have so far failed to broker a final peace accord between Azerbaijan. Baku continues to threaten renewed war in the region and regularly violates a cease-fire regime in place since 1994.