Armenia’s Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan speaks to Armenian community representatives in New York on March 29

NEW YORK—Armenia’s Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan told a gathering of Armenian community representatives here on Friday that Armenia has formulated a new approach to military operations, saying in the event of a new war, the armed forces would not hesitate to seize new territories.

“I, as the Defense Minister [of Armenia], say that the option of return of ‘territories for peace’ will no longer exist, and I have re-formulated it into ”new territories in the event of a new war,” announced Tonoyan, who is in New York to attend the United Nations Peacekeeping Ministerial Conference, told a gathering of Armenian community members on Friday.

In his presentation, Tonoyan ruled out any unilateral concessions and said that Armenia was in the process of expanding and improving its defense capabilities.

Tonoyan addressed the UN Peacekeeping Ministerial Conference on Saturday, pledging Armenia’s continued participation in United Nations-led operations around the world.

“Armenia is a contributor to the NATO-led missions in Kosovo and Afghanistan. We have also shown consistent commitment to help bring lasting change in areas affected by crisis, as reflected through our most recent deployment of a National humanitarian mission in Syria, comprising medical personnel and demining specialists, in cooperation with our Russian colleagues and in response to the request of the Syrian authorities and Armenian community,” explained Tonoyan.

“I would like to take this opportunity to reaffirm Armenia’s continued commitment to contribute to the international efforts in upholding international peace and security and to support to the Secretary General’s reform agenda,” added Tonoyan.