YEREVAN.- Armenia is not going to lead the arms race, presidential candidate Serzh Sargsyan said during the meeting with voters in Masis.

Armenia is acquiring arms in case of necessity, he said, or it can provide everything for the army itself.

He pointed at a long-standing fund “Martik” (Fighter) which is collecting voluntary donations from individuals. Defense Minster and Catholicos have the right to spend money from the fund with the approval of President.

President noted that over the years the fund has collected a few million dollars, but the government did not consider it a priority source of financing of the army, the Armenian News-NEWS.am correspondent reports from Masis.

“To say the army needs other funding, in addition to the public one, is to give a reason to remarks that we do not have enough money for the army. Azerbaijan constantly claims that Armenia has no money, and soon there will be no people here. There is an impression that Azerbaijani people from Imishli to Agstafa are allegedly living in prosperity, while in Armenia people have to work from morning to night just to get a piece of bread. Therefore, let everyone know that we can bear our defense spending. We have a large army but this is for security reasons,” he said.