Tuesday, November 5 2019 17:58

ArmInfo.The issue of maintaining the military balance between Armenia and Azerbaijan is constantly on the CSTO agenda, and the enemy should not have certain advantages in terms of armaments. This was stated in an interview with journalists  in parliament on November 5 by the head of the Standing Parliamentary  Committee on Defense and Security, MP from the My Step faction,  Andranik Kocharyan.

''It is very bad when Armenian soldiers die from weapons sold by  their ally, but do not forget that our Armed Forces also have such  weapons. However, the problem is not in the supply of weapons, but in  achieving peace'', Kocharyan said.  According to the MP, maintaining  the military balance is a constant issue on the CSTO agenda, however,  this issue is not discussed at the CSTO's common platform since this  organization is in the process of formation. Only when it has a  clearly worked out agenda, the organization will be able to give  answers to all questions.  At the same time, the parliamentarian  said, despite the fact that Azerbaijan is buying more types of  weapons, the balance in this regard is not disrupted.

''Currently the issue is voiced constantly that the budget of  Azerbaijan has more appropriations for armaments than ours. But you  forget that their budget structure is somewhat different than ours.  In the end, they finance the Caucasian fleet, which absolutely does  not fit into the framework of the Armenian- Azerbaijani conflict. If  we look at proportions, then I think the degree of controllability of  our Armed Forces is increasing'', he concluded.

It should be noted that on November 5 the Plenary Session of the CSTO  Parliamentary Assembly is held. In particular, they are attended by  the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia  Ararat Mirzoyan, Chairman of the State Duma of the Russian Federation  Vyacheslav Volodin, Speaker of the Lower House of the Parliament of  Tajikistan Shukurdzhon Zukhurov, Speaker of the Mazhilis of the  Parliament of Kazakhstan Nurlan Nigmatulin, Speaker of the Parliament  of Kyrgyzstan Dastan Dzhumabekov, Deputy Speaker of the Federation  Council of the Russian Federation Yuri Vorobev.  A visiting session  of the PA CSTO is being held for the first time. As reported, the  topics included in the agenda relate in particular to the security  organization of the CSTO member states. As Vyacheslav Volodin  previously noted, countries face common challenges that need to be  addressed together. This, in particular, relates to the fight against  international terrorism.