Armenia proposes arms control mechanism to Azerbaijan amid concerns over Baku’s military build-up

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YEREVAN, September 4. /ARKA/. Armenia has proposed an arms control mechanism to Azerbaijan in response to Baku's ongoing military build-up, according to Sarkis Khandanyan, the head of the Armenian National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Foreign Relations./pp

Armenia's actions to meet its defense needs are a sovereign decision, and no other parties can compel it or demand that it refrain from acquiring arms. Armenia has made a clear proposal to Azerbaijan to implement a mutual arms control mechanism, but it has gone unanswered, Khandanyan stated in the corridors of the parliament./pp

He emphasized that Armenia must be mindful of Azerbaijan’s continued armament. If there are concerns in Baku, then there are even more here, he said, adding that it would be logical to have such a mechanism in place, but the offer remains unanswered./pp

Earlier in July, Azerbaijan's Ministry of Defense claimed that military exercises conducted by the United States in Armenia, the supply of lethal weapons by France, and the European Union’s military assistance to Armenia, including a €10 million aid package, were encouraging Armenia to provoke conflicts and indicated preparations for another war against Azerbaijan./pp

In response, Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ani Badalyan reiterated that proposals made to the Azerbaijani side through diplomatic channels, as well as publicly by the Prime Minister's office, regarding the creation of a joint mechanism to investigate and verify border incidents, have also gone unanswered. According to Badalyan, the implementation of such a mechanism would clarify any situation and prevent the spread of misinformation./pp br/p