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YEREVAN, 25 July. /ARKA/. In a statement issued today, the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected Azerbaijan's accusations that 'the jopint Armenia-USA military exercises held in Armenia, as well as France's supply of lethal weapons to Yerevan and the EU's provision of ten million euros in military aid to Armenia under the European Peace Facility cover encourage Armenia to provocations and testify to its preparations for a new war against Azerbaijan.'/pp 'The Ministry of Defence once again warns Armenia and its patrons to refrain from the intention to create a new hotbed of war in the South Caucasus. If such provocative actions against our country do not stop, appropriate retaliatory measures will be taken in self-defence using all means available in the arsenal of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan,’ the Ministry of Defence of Azerbaijan stated earlier./pp ‘Another statement of the Ministry of Defence of Azerbaijan ‘on provocative actions of the army of the Republic of Armenia on the Armenian-Azerbaijani state border’ is incomprehensibe,’ Armenian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Ani Badalyan said./pp
She recalled that the proposals made through diplomatic channels and publicly by the Office of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia on the establishment of a joint mechanism to investigate border incidents and/or information about them still remain unanswered by Azerbaijan./pp 'Launching such a mechanism would allow to clarify any situation and prevent the dissemination of information that does not correspond to reality,’ she said./pp 'At the same time, attempts to drag the Republic of Armenia into escalatory rhetoric are unacceptable. The Government of the Republic of Armenia remains faithful to the peace agenda and will not deviate from this strategy,’ Badalyan said./pp
According to her, as for the reforming of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia, acquisition of weapons and equipment, the Armenian side has repeatedly noted that having a combat-ready army is the sovereign right of any country, and the Republic of Armenia has no other goal in the sphere of defence and security but the protection of its internationally recognised territory./pp 'In the process of reforming the army, the Republic of Armenia acts exclusively within the framework of international law. We also recall that the Republic of Armenia through diplomatic channels and publicly proposed to Azerbaijan the establishment of a mutual arms control mechanism and the conclusion of a relevant treaty, which Azerbaijan also left unanswered. Despite this, this proposal remains in force,’ Ani Badalyan said.-0-/pp nbsp;/p
