President Sargsian: Armenia buys new weapons, modernizes its arsenal
YEREVAN. June 18 (Interfax) - Armenia is modernizing the national defense sector, Armenian President Serzh Sargsian said.
In his words, Armenia did not set the goal of resuming the hostilities after May 1994 when truce was declared in the Karabakh conflict zone.
"Indeed, we are building up our arsenal, procuring new types of armaments and modernizing the available ones. Yet there is no need to publicize our weapons. We carry on these efforts because security is our priority. We will do our best to provide soldiers who are protecting our borders with everything they need," the Armenian president indicated.
The Karabakh peace talks have been slow, Sargsian said.
"Definitely, a bad peace is better than a good war and any negotiations are better than hostilities. We wish this problem to be resolved as soon as possible but not at any cost and on any terms. Negotiations are slow because Azerbaijan and we give different interpretations to the settlement principles proposed by the OSCE Minsk Group cochairmen," the president said.
He said Armenia and the intermediaries understood the proposed principles in the same way. "Azerbaijan understands these principles in a completely different manner. Naturally, this creates an impediment to the negotiations. It is not accidental that Azerbaijan puts forward new proposals every time. We need to understand the principles similarly so that the negotiations advance at the rates acceptable for everyone," Sargsian said.
He thanked the intermediaries for their efforts in the resolution of the Karabakh conflict.
"At the same time, I have to say that the solution of this conflict is necessary for us, in the first turn, and only then to everyone else. Efforts must be boosted," the Armenian president said.