YEREVAN. - Those who complain about the joint air defense agreement signed between Armenia and Russia, are not familiar with the document and haven’t read it. 

Armenia’s National Assembly (NA) Vice Speaker Eduard Sharmazanov, who is also the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) spokesman, told journalists after the RPA Supreme Body meeting Thursday.

“Otherwise, after reading it a literate man would hardly have concerns about Armenia giving its air defense to another, even ally state,” Sharmazanov said, adding that the agreement was signed in December 2015. 

The document is called a joint and not united air defense system agreement. “If Belarus and Kazakhstan signed a united air defense system agreement, which has one leadership, Armenia has signed a joint system agreement. This means that the sides defend their sovereignty.  It is no coincidence that we have crossed that path so that our Air Defense is managed exclusively by the Armenian Armed Forces.”

According to the NA Vice Speaker, under Article 3 of the agreement, having no common border, Armenia and Russia should create separate Air Defense system, which will be run by an Armenian official, who will be exclusively accountable to the Armenian President.

In Sharmazanov’s words, the agreement contains no letter, word or punctuation mark regarding Artsakh, there being no restrictions on the Armenian and Nagorno-Karabakh Air Defense systems.  He also noted that this system enables Armenia to take advantage of the wide opportunities of the Russian Air Defense system.