The deployment of Russia’s Iskander missile systems in Armenia was a necessary measure to ensure regional stability and help balance situation, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said on Thursday.
“I think this [deployment of Iskanders in Armenia] was a necessary measure to somehow balance the military situation in our region,” Sargsyan told Sputnik news agency.
“It is no secret that Azerbaijan has regularly purchased state-of-the-art weaponry in the past few years. We do not have such financial capabilities as Azerbaijan, but we are constantly trying to balance the situation by finding an antidote. I think Iskander is such an antidote in this case,” he said.
Iskanders were first demonstrated on September 21 at a military parade in Yerevan marking the 25th anniversary of Armenia’s independence. They were reportedly adopted by Armenia’s Armed Forces earlier and were put on combat alert during the escalation in Nagorno-Karabakh in April this year.
The Armenian President said there is no need to establish new Russian military bases in Armenia, and it would be enough to expand the capacity of the existing one in Gyumri.
“I do not believe that there is any need in this because the military base is able to take in all elements which may be needed. Therefore, one military base is enough for the small Armenia, it is just necessary to give it military power,” Sargsyan said.
The Russian 102nd Military Base is located in the Armenian city of Gyumri. On August 20, 2010, Russia and Armenia agreed to prolong the agreement on the base location until 2044.
Sargsyan expressed Armenia’s support for Russia’s actions in Syria, stating: “We fully support Russia providing help to the Syrian government upon its request. There can be no doubts here. This is a legal right of the Syrian government to ask for help, and Russia’s legal right to provide this help.”
According to the president, Yerevan would like to see the Syrian crisis resolved quickly, but it can only be settled by the Syrian people.
“Of course, we would like for this issue to be resolved quickly, however, as I can see, there can hardly be a quick solution. There are 20,000 of our compatriots living [in Syria]. We do not have exact information,” Sargsyan said.
Source: Al-Manar Website
