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Medvedev Praises Russian-Armenian Defense Pact

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  • Medvedev Praises Russian-Armenian Defense Pact

    MEDVEDEV PRAISES RUSSIAN-ARMENIAN DEFENSE PACT

    azatutyun.am
    August 1, 2011

    RFE/RL-- President Dmitry Medvedev has again defended a
    Russian-Armenian agreement extending Russia's military presence
    in Armenia, saying that it contributes to peace and stability in
    the volatile South Caucasus. The agreement signed during Medvedev's
    official visit to Yerevan in August 2010 extended Russia's lease on
    a military base headquartered in Gyumri by 24 years, until 2045, and
    upgraded its security mission.The deal took the form of amendments
    to a 1995 Russian-Armenian defense treaty. The Armenian and Russian
    parliaments ratified it earlier this year.

    "The decision to prolong the presence of the Russian military base in
    Armenia was made because Russia is interested in maintaining peace
    and stability in the region," Medvedev told an Azerbaijani business
    magazine in an interview published over the weekend.

    "The military base is tasked with ensuring peace and order, maintaining
    peace and reducing difficulties that we have today," he said.Medvedev
    gave similar assurances to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev when
    he visited Baku last September. He insisted that the Russian-Armenian
    defense pact poses no security threat to Azerbaijan.

    The pact commits Moscow to defending Armenia's entire territory against
    possible aggression and supplying the Armenian military with modern
    weaponry.Armenian officials say this will discourage Azerbaijan from
    acting on its growing threats to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
    by force. Some of them have gone as far as to claim that the Russian
    military will openly support its Armenian ally in case of renewed
    war in Karabakh. Russian officials have not confirmed this, though.

    In his interview, Medvedev also touched upon his personal involvement
    in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, expressing hope that the presidents
    of Armenia and Azerbaijan will continue to meet on a regular basis.

    "Those have been important discussions during which the parties
    noted the existence of a number of difficulties in that process,"
    he said of about a dozen Armenian-Azerbaijani summits hosted by him
    since 2008."But in any case, these efforts are producing results
    and negotiations are continuing," added Medvedev. "In my opinion,
    the intensity of these contacts should not decrease."

    The Moscow daily "Kommersant" reported recently that Medvedev is
    frustrated with Presidents Serzh Sarkisian's and Ilham Aliyev's failure
    to achieve a breakthrough at their last meeting held in Kazan on June
    24. It cited an unnamed Kremlin source as saying that the Russian
    president will organize another summit only if Aliyev and Sarkisian
    "firmly express their readiness to sign up to the principles of
    the settlement."

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