The military-political situation in the South Caucasus is characterized by a high conflict potential, Armenian Defense Minister David Tonoyan said at the joint meeting of the Council of Ministers of the CIS, SCO and CSTO.
“Recently, there has been an exacerbation of contradictions in the region, which, in our opinion, is a consequence of expanding of the ambitions of certain countries. The military-political events dynamically developing in our region can be characterized as a conflict of geopolitical interests, the key factor of which is the lack of a common vision of security, as well as the lack of mechanisms to reduce risks,” the Defense Minister said.
He emphasized that the regional conflicts do not have a military solution, and noted that neither military rhetoric nor attempts to involve new states in these conflicts, with the subsequent aggravation of the situation in the region, is acceptable to Armenia.
“In particular, after each incident that is a direct continuation of the growing militant rhetoric, the forces conducting the latter get further convinced that this approach is not effective and does not lead to the desired result,” Minister Tonoyan stated.
He said “Russian presence in the region, as well as the deepening of the military-political cooperation between Armenia and Russia is the most important deterrent factor contributing to the preservation of regional stability and security.”
“The sphere of strategic interests of the Republic of Armenia includes not only the Caucasus region, but the entire area of responsibility of the CSTO, as well as the Middle East and the Eastern Mediterranean. Proceeding from this, Armenia is interested in maintaining peace and stability in these regions,” David Tonoyan continued.
The fight against terrorism remains one of the highest priorities, he said. “Highly assessing the role of the Russian Federation in the fight against international terrorism in the Syrian Arab Republic, the Republic of Armenia joined the process of providing humanitarian aid to the Syrian people and rebuilding the country’s infrastructure.”
The Defense noted that Armenia intends to continue to make its feasible contribution to the UN-sanctioned undertakings of various formats, carried out in different geographic, climatic, ethno-confessional and operational environments.
