Suren Papikyan sees no grounds for escalation in the region

We must guarantee the security of Armenia’s borders with our balanced policy, Defense Minister Suren Papikyan said at a meeting with journalists today, answering the question of how far the Armenian-American strategic charter can guarantee the security of Armenia’s borders.

“Putting the role only on the Armed Forces, putting it on one partner, is not a solution. We will solve the problems with joint efforts and dialogue,” he said.

Armenia and the United States signed the strategic partnership charter yesterday. The document includes several sections of cooperation: defense, security, democracy, justice, economic, transport and energy sectors. The protection of sovereignty and territorial integrity is emphasized. Armenia, which is able to protect the inviolability of its internationally recognized borders.

Journalists also asked the minister how much he considers Syunik to be protected, taking into account that the leader of Azerbaijan spoke about the “Zangezur Corridor” again last week. Ilham Aliyev insisted that “Zangezur Corridor” should be opened and will be opened.

“Rhetoric is rhetoric, but any aggression needs grounds. I, as the Minister of Defense, do not see that there are grounds for escalation in the region, because Armenia has proposals and solutions for every problem,” the head of the defense department stressed.

And did Azerbaijan have grounds for occupying RA territories until now? Suren Papikyan responded that he does not want to talk about what happened before, but how he imagines peace in the region. According to him, although the region is “not going through easy times”, there is an opportunity to solve the existing problems through negotiations.