YEREVAN (Azg–Radio Liberty) — Azeri President Gaidar Aliyev accused Armenia of violating the cease-fire agreement in place since 1994 by illegally receiving arms from Russia.
Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze–on a visit to Azerbaijan–shared Aliyev’s concerns. Shevardnadze pointed to media reports of Russian tank deliveries to Armenia from Russian military bases in Georgia.
"Russia’should understand that stability in this region–first of all–meets its own interests," and that the main condition for stability in the Northern Caucasus is stability in Transcaucasia," the Georgian president said.
Aliyev said that during negotiations with Shevardnadze–the positions of the two sides coincided on all issues discussed.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry denied allegations by Russian Minister Aman Tuleyev that illegal arms shipmen’s were made to Armenia.
"Armenia expects Moscow to conduct a thorough investigation and clear up why Minister [of Cooperation with the Commonwealth of Independent States] Tuleyev made such a statement," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Arsen Gasparian said Friday.
Gasparian noted that the types of arms indicated in Tuleyev’s statement are controlled by the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty signed by 30 countries.
The supervisory body in Vienna–which oversees the implementation of the CFE Treaty–has not received any notification on transportation of tanks or armored vehicles from Russia as stipulated by the international agreement–Gasparian said.
Tuleyev’s statement does not correspond to the real state of affairs–he concluded.
