CSTO Ready to Respond if it Concerns the Security of Armenia's Borders, Kocharyan

The CSTO does not respond to the gunfire directed from Azerbaijan towards the Republic of Armenia, as there is currently no necessity for that, said Andranik Kocharyan, the chairman of the National Assembly's standing committee on defense and security, to journalists.

"The CSTO is ready to respond if it concerns the security of Armenia's borders. The current state of the Armenian armed forces dictates that they can rely on their own strength today," said Kocharyan, adding that this year the number of gunfire incidents at Armenia's borders is lower than in previous years.

When asked how he views Russia's sale of weapons to Azerbaijan, Kocharyan described it as a "bad" phenomenon. "That is a very bad thing, but do not forget that our armed forces are also equipped with similar weapons, and the issue is to achieve peace. The issue of maintaining a balance of weaponry is a constant challenge, and the enemy should not have an advantage in terms of armaments. There is a lot of discussion now that their budget allocations are more significant, while ours are less, but you forget that their armed forces have a different structure," Kocharyan added. "I do not think the balance is disrupted. Azerbaijan is simply acquiring more weaponry."