Chief of the General Staff of Armenia: The Confrontation Between the West and Russia Has Negative Impact on the Situation in the Region

YEREVAN — Chief of the Armenian General Staff Artak Davtyan is convinced that the situation in Syria and the confrontation between the West and Russia have a negative impact on the situation in the region as a whole. Davtyan expressed this opinion on November 22 during a meeting with students in Gyumri.

According to him, today in the region there is an increase in tension, since both of these factors, of course, affects the general atmosphere in the region. According to him, this is due to the fact that the immediate neighbor of Armenia – Turkey is involved in this process, and is fighting not only against the Kurds, but also carries out activities in Syria. “In addition, our other neighbor, Azerbaijan, continues militaristic rhetoric. Baku continues to develop its armed forces, thereby trying to put pressure on the Armenian people and the Armenian authorities in order to achieve certain successes or concessions in the negotiation process. But, the Armenian armed forces are doing everything to ensure the security of our borders, thus providing an opportunity for the leadership of the country to be more confident in the negotiations with the view that the Armed Forces will, if necessary, fulfill the tasks assigned to them”, Davtyan said.

Davtyan emphasized that the Iskander missile system is not Armenia’s only deterrent weapon, adding that the country possesses other armaments too which will be unveiled in due time. According to him, now is not the time to unveil or even announce about the weapons in question.

The Iskander was first introduced during the military parade marking the 25th anniversary of the country’s independence. The ballistic missile system was employed during four military drills in 2018.