Sarkisian Deplores Russian arms sales to Baku, during talks in Germany

By Asbarez | Thursday, 07 April 2016

BERLIN (Combined Sources)—President Serzh Sarkisian, who is on an official visit to Germany, said during a press conference after meeting with that country’s chancellor Angela Merkel that Russia’s sale of weapons to Azerbaijan was deplorable.

“It’s deplorable that not only Russia but also other CSTO member states sell weapons to Azerbaijan, but we have limited abilities to influence such decisions,” said Sarkisian, adding that “Azerbaijan possesses better weapons which proved to be operable, but power is not entirely about the modernity of weapons. True power is the Armenian and Karabakh people’s determination to protect their homeland at any cost.”

“Back in January, Germany expressed its support to the proposal to implement a mechanism of investigation of border incidents. Armenia backs the implementation of this mechanism, as well as the withdrawal of snipers from the line of contact,” said Sarkisian, adding that Azerbaijan has always refused any confidence-building measures and pursued different objectives.

“The objectives were finally revealed the night of April 2. Ignoring the calls of the international community for peace, Azerbaijan started large-scale military actions all along the Nagorno Karabakh line of contact in what was the worst clash ever since the 1994 ceasefire agreement. As a result Azerbaijan turned the region into a hot spot threating the security of Europe,” added Sarkisian.

“The people of Karabakh do not want war. What they want is one simple thing – the right to determine their future, they want to live in a democratic country, and expect the international community to recognize this right,” said the president

Merkel said, in turn, that “as a country presiding over the OSCE, Germany is ready to help the OSCE Minsk Group solve the issue, to play a constructive role. She also stressed the important of returning to the negotiation table as soon as possible.

Sarkisian thanked Germany and Merkel for their consistent support to the development of Armenia-EU relations.


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